Some Things Never End
by Joyfulleejoyful
Summary: When Lucy get's a letter from the Jurener's, the family her father had tried to marry her into years ago, she is forcefully thrown into a situation that will leave her separated from her family, and worst of all Natsu. She's trapped in a legal bind and can't get out, but she refuses to play the weak girl. She'll do whatever it takes to keep her family safe, even if it means leaving
1. Chapter 1

Lucy fell back on her bed in a slow, lethargic motion, feeling emotionally worn by what she just read. The letter slipped out of her chilled hand and settled beside her on the bed, staying open as if to remind her not to forget about what was written on it.

It was the first thing she had noticed when on her way home from the guild. After receiving her normal warnings from the two boatmen she passed on her way back, she noticed a messenger about to slip an evelope into the house's mail slot, but she had arrived before he could.

"Ah!" the messengers attention turned to Lucy as she came closer to the door, "Would you happen to be a one," he looked to the envelope in his hand and read the name on it out loud, "Lucy Heartfilia?"

Her face lit up a bit at the sound of her name, "Yes that's me." She hardly ever got mail from anyone, so she was extra curious as to who could've sent her something.

The messenger swiftly gave her the letter and was off, giving her a courteous smile before leaving, "Have a good evening miss."

"Ah, you too!" She looked up from the envelope, only able to get a glimpse at the back side of it before she had spoke to the man.

"Who could it be? Who could it be?" She spoke to herself in a sing-song voice as she made her way into her room, not wanting to look to see who the sender was just yet.

It greeted her normally, the lights were off and her window was shut with the curtains closed over it. Her desk sat in the corner of her room, looking distant as if it were sad that she had been gone for a few days. It was her home, but it was lonely most of the time.

Humming to herself she decided to warm up the place. She flipped the light switch as she entered and went into the kitchen to start some tea, the flames from the stove giving off some warmth into her kitchen at least.

_I bet if Natsu and Happy were here the place would feel a lot warmer. I'm almost surprised they weren't here waiting for me._ Her thoughts were slow and longing as she went to start a bath for herself, placing the letter on her desk before she left the room. She sat in the warm water for a few minutes and went over the events of that day, her back aching just from the thought of it.

Before she came home they had just gotten back from a mission that took a few days. It was the usual, stop some petty bandits and return what they stole, the only reason it took as long as it did was because Natsu went overboard yet again and destroyed some poor old man's shop. In result, they had to stay there and help clean up while the bandits got away.

Eventually, they caught up and the rest fell into place. It was just an hour ago that the three of them had gotten off the train and went to report in to Master.

She had bid Natsu and Happy goodbye at the guild entrance, Natsu still feeling sick from the train, and thus began her walk home.

Lucy lowered half of her face into the water and blew bubbles, she hadn't really wanted to say goodbye. She knew that when she got home, an empty room would've awaited her. Though oddly enough, she would have welcomed that any other day. For some reason, she really wanted to see that smile of his.

_It's probably nothing_, she thought to herself.

Sighing, she pushed her now warmed body out of the tub, and quickly got dressed, black shorts and an over-sized shirt were what awaited her bare skin.

Her tea would be at a perfect temperature by now so, she threw a towel over her dripping hair and eagerly padded her bare feet across the carpeted floor, her toes thankful that they weren't met with the cold wooden floor just yet.

"Alright then." She spoke to herself as she set the tea on her table and picked up the letter from the desk.

"Let's see who this is from!" She sat down and began to inspect the front of the envelope.

_Oh, it looks official._ She saw the stamp on the front and knew immediately who it was from. Her father had had many ordeals with them in the past, so this seal was fairly recognizable to her. _What would the Official Court House of Fiore want with me?_

With her curiosity now piqued to its highest level, she carefully ripped open the envelope.

The tears welled in her eyes as she read the formally typed words on the page, giving them a look of waves crashing about in an ocean. She figured this would happen sooner or later. She had just hoped that it would happen much, much later.

_Enough_, Lucy got up from her seat and fell back on her bed in a slow, lethargic motion, feeling emotionally worn by what she just read. The letter slipped out of her chilled hand and settled beside her on the bed, staying open as if to remind her not to forget about what was written on it.

_I guess that feeling really wasn't nothing. _

A single tear fell down the right side of her face, disappearing down her cheek and onto her sheet.

With a small, shaking voice and a heart that was feeling everything once again, she spoke into her silent room, "I guess some things never really end."


	2. Chapter 2

That night passed silently for Lucy. Even the world outside her window seemed quieter than usual. She hadn't spoken another word to herself out loud, she only thought.

What would her next move be?

_Move, huh? I'll probably have to do that._ She thought to herself as she stared at the room that had warmed her bones for what felt like a long time now. So much had happened in the time she'd been with Fairy Tail, that it felt like she had been there her whole life.

The thought of leaving hurt her. When she thought of it, it felt as though her heart wouldn't be able to take it.

_What choice do I have?_

Tears began to fall as she brought her knees up to her chest. She was still on her bed; despite that it was already noon. She'd spent the entire morning just like that, thinking over every option she had, desperately trying to find a way out of her situation.

Whoever had sent that letter knew that she wouldn't be able to say no, they were taking advantage of her personality. She couldn't refuse.

More silent minutes passed, and she sat in the same spot letting her tears fall. _I was foolish to think that my name wouldn't haunt me. I love it, but it's causing me trouble. My Dad, my mom, it's their name, but it's causing me trouble._

Her hands went to her head and grasped her hair, her facing twisting into one of pain.

"How do I get through this?"

As she spoke aloud, there was a knock on her door. The sound nearly made her heart stop.

Quickly, she rubbed the tears off of her face, and tried to answer in an unwavering voice, "Wh-who is it?"

"It's us!" Two familiar voices sounded through the door.

The sound of them threatened to make the tears fall again, but she held on. She didn't want them to know anything yet. Not until she knew what she was going to do.

"J-just a second!" She yelled to the pair as she ran into her bathroom and splashed her face with cold water, trying to rid her face of evidence that she had been crying.

Once her face looked normal, she quickly dried it with a towel hanging by the mirror, and rushed to the door, putting on a smile that she had developed during her time at the mansion with her father.

"What's up guys?" She asked them as she opened the door, "I can't believe you actually came through the front and not my window.

Her back turned to them as she walked back into her bedroom, letting them follow her in.

"You hadn't showed up at the guild yet, so we figured you were here." Natsu smiling as always, answered Lucy as he made himself completely at home, throwing his backpack onto the table and taking out the weights he had stashed under Lucy's bed.

"What the heck?! Since when have those been there?!"

A thoughtful look came onto Natsu's face, "Hmmm…" His head began to lean to the side as he thought, "Can't remember."

"Geez." Lucy sighed to herself; there really wasn't a point in inquiring any further.

She made her way into her bathroom with a set of clothes, a smile forming slowly on her face._ How does he know when to show up at just the right time? Seriously._

"Anyway, Lucy!" She heard Happy yell from inside her room, "We wanted to go on a mission, so we came to get you!"

"Yeah!" Natsu added, "We heard you saying your rent was almost due, so we picked a good one! It's exactly enough for your rent!" His voice trailed off with the number of curls he was doing. The number already being seventy-six.

The smile widened. _Again, they've gone and accepted a job that would leave them with nothing._

"That sounds g-" The letter flashed in her mind as she was about to reply with her usual response.

_Oh,_ the smile was instantly wiped off, _that's right_. She knew that it was smart to not do anything until she had made up her mind.

She stepped out of her bathroom, gaining the attention of the two other people on her room, "Sorry guys, but I'm going to have to sit out of this one."

A questioning look crossed Natsu's face, but Lucy kept going, "I've actually got some things to take care of, so I'm going to be pretty busy these next few days."

"Aww, come on Lucy!" The two spoke in unison, one taking a fresh fish out of his backpack, and one of them still lifting his weights. She was happy that they wanted her to come, they were a team after all, but she couldn't.

"Like I said, I have some things I need to take care of. It can't be helped." She kept her composure calm and walked over to her desk. She swiftly picked up the letter and stuffed in into her bag before she made her way to the door, "You guys can stay if you want, but I really have to get going."

With that she opened the door, and let one single tear fall before she closed it, hoping that they hadn't seen it.

Silence enveloped the room as the door shut. Once it did, Natsu stood up and observed Lucy's pillow, knowing full well that something was wrong.

"Natsuu…" Happy's voice was colored with sadness; he too knew that Lucy was hiding something from them.

"Yeah Happy, I know. I can smell it." He sniffed the air once more, confirming that it was there, the smell of salt.

Natsu had gotten a whiff of it as soon as he entered the room, and aside from the redness around Lucy's eyes, that was one other thing that had told him something was wrong.

When he had gone to pull his weights from under Lucy's bed, he knew what the source of the smell was, her tear stained pillow.

"Normally, she would've kicked us out before she left." Happy stated.

Natsu nodded in response, not knowing how to react yet.

"What do we do?" Happy broke the silence again.

Natsu brought himself to the floor and sat for a few moments, crossing his arms over his chest. His first instinct was to chase after her and find out was wrong, but for some reason he felt like that was the wrong thing to do.

Happy sat there on the table and watched Natsu. He knew that he was thinking because his head was gradually leaning more and more to the side, so he waited.

_If we follow her, she'll probably be mad… If we don't go after her, we might not find out what's wrong.. Go after her, don't go after her…_The two phrases began circling each other in his mind.

"Agh!" Natsu stood up and erased those thoughts from his mind; he really wasn't the type who should think for too long.

"Natsu?"

As he stood, his arms crossed his chest again and he looked over to Happy, "We'll wait for her to tell us and while we do, we'll go ahead and do the job for her."

"Ehhh?!" Happy was taken by surprise at Natsu's conclusion, "You mean you're not going to recklessly run after her?!"

"Even I know that there are things we shouldn't ask too much about!" Natsu said, a little angered that recklessly running after Lucy was expected of him.

"Wow, when did you become Mature-Natsu?" Happy teased as they headed out the door.

"Shut it!"

"Come on Mature-Nastu, let's get the mission done before it wears off!"

"Agh! Quit it!"

The pair began walking down the street, and Natsu picked up the faint scent of Lucy in the other direction. Quickly, he gave a quick glance over his shoulder, doubting his decision.

_I wonder what's wrong..._

* * *

She headed around the town aimlessly; mad at herself for being a coward and running out of her own home. There wasn't a way for her to say anything to them right now. Her mind was becoming stuck.

Eventually she gave up on thinking, and decided to go visit her parent's graves. It probably wasn't the best thing for her, given how emotional she was at the moment, but she didn't care. If she made a scene and cried like a new born baby in front of anyone who was around, then so be it.

It took her longer than expected, but she finally made it to their headstones. Her head swiveled around, surveying for people who weren't there. It was just her in this plane of graves. _Lonely…_

"Hi Mama, Papa. Sorry I haven't been here in a while, a lot of stuff has been going on. I've been doing good, busy with jobs and getting involved in all sorts of crazy things, but good. All of my friends are good too. They're the same as always, only, I've noticed something a little different about Natsu. A little more mature, maybe? Only a little. It may just be my imagination though. I've always been one to think too much into things." She sighed and looked up to the gray clouds starting to come over the horizon. _Rain, huh?_

"Mama, Papa, I'm in a bit of a situation right now. I don't know how to get out of it without shaming you two. I know that you only want me to live my life as I want to, but this is something I can't avoid. I don't blame you two. It's not your fault, but I…" her voice trailed off as she began to feeling the smallest of raindrops.

She looked up and saw the sky filled with gray. It was fitting, she supposed.

The tears began flowing as the rain fell harder, mixing the two together, hiding the fact that she was actually crying.

"I really don't want to leave!" Her voice was muffled by the sound of the rain as she spoke. There wasn't anything left to say anyway.

Slowly, she touched the top of her parent's gravestones. They were cold, and unfeeling. Suddenly, she felt as if it was a waste of time going there.

"So that's it then?" She asked herself the question as she began walking back to the graveyard entrance.

She wasn't bothered by the way her clothes were sopping wet, or by the way her hair was sticking to her face. Honestly, she couldn't really tell she was wet at all. It was the last thing she was worried about.

Again she looked up to the sky, finally making her decision.

"Fine." Her fists balled up and she made her mouth form into a tight line.

_I'll go. If it's for the sake of my parents, and for Fairy Tail, I'll do it._

She nodded her head and began to make her way back to the train station, muttering one more unintelligible word before she exited the graveyard.


	3. Chapter 3

A day had already passed and Natsu and the others still hadn't seen or heard anything from Lucy.

_Maybe, I should've just gone after her?_ Natsu thought, still having mixed feelings about his decision the other day. They had gone ahead and done the job for Lucy, knowing she would need rent money, but in result, they had left her alone, waiting for her to tell them what had been on her mind.

"Are you sure something was wrong with her? It wasn't your imagination?" Erza voiced her presence, and snapped Natsu out of his thoughts.

"No." Happy answered the question. "Something was wrong. She didn't even yell at us or throw us out of her room!" His small blue ears lowered a bit as he finished his sentence.

"On top of that, I smelt the salt from tears on her pillow."

"What were you doing sniffing her pillow?" Gray walked up to the three of them, joining the conversation.

"I wasn't sniffing her pillow! I smelt it as soon as I walked in! Heh, only you'd forget that I have a great sense of smell." Natsu yelled in response to Gray, adding a slight insult towards the end.

"What's that supposed to mea-"

Natsu got up from the bar and began walking towards the exit, having just decided his next move, "Later, Icehead. I'm going to see if Lucy's home."

"You coming Happy?" He turned just as he reached the exit of the guild.

"Aye." The still depressed Happy spread his wings and flew over to Natsu, landing on the top of his head.

Erza and Gray stared after the pair, "Do you think we should go too?" Gray voiced to Erza.

"No. We'll let them handle this for now. I'm also concerned, but it's probably better if we all don't gang up on Lucy."

"I guess so."

The two of them went back to their business, entrusting the matter to Natsu and Happy.

* * *

Back in time one day ago, in a town fairly far from Magnolia-

Lucy looked up to the large building standing in front of her, trying her best not to gape at it. It was large, with pillars and every amenity you could imagine. Her father would often talk about places like these, and how their owners were very wealthy and respectable people. People with tremendous power.

_Maybe, I'm overreacting._ She tired reassuring herself as she walked through the glass doors of the building. _It's possible that they only want to talk._

Her attempts were futile though, she knew deep inside that it wasn't going to be a simple exchange.

She'd heard the name before. Years ago when she went to confront her father with her resolve.

_Jurener._

It was brief, but she had kept the name in her memory as soon as she heard it, knowing it was something she should remember. It was the name of the family her father had once wanted her to marry into.

An arranged marriage. She shuddered at the thought of it. When she was younger, she had been submissive to that fate, knowing it would be inevitable if she stayed there.

Snapping out of memories that would do her no good now, she stepped into the building, and was immediately greeted by a random person.

"Oh my!" A middle-aged woman, wearing a blazer and a pencil-skirt, moved from behind the reception desk and ran over to Lucy, "You're soaked dear! This weather is just the _worst_ isn't it?"

"Yes, I'd have to agree with you." Lucy replied in a tone that she hadn't had to use in a while now.

"Let's see if we can get you dried off." The woman ushered Lucy into a room behind the desk and was swiftly given a towel by people who she assumed were assistants.

"Ah, thank you!" She tried to thank them, but they had retreated as soon as she took the towel.

"Don't worry about them; they're just the help dear."

Lucy's eyebrow twitched at the woman's choice of words. All of this was beginning to feel too familiar for comfort.

"Now, it's safe for me to assume you're the one Mr. Jurener is waiting for. A one, Lucy Heartfilia?" The woman ended her sentence with a grin, business-like and kind, but something seemed off about it.

"Yes, that would be me. I received Mr. Jurener's letter not long ago, and assumed it was fine for me to come right away. Will I be speaking with him, or will our business be communicated through you?"

"Now, now, try not to be so stiff Ms. Heartfilia. First things first." The woman stretched her arm out towards a set of couches with a table in the middle of them towards the back of the room, motioning for her to make herself comfortable.

Once the two of them had sat down, the lady began speaking again, "First off, I'd like to give my condolences. I heard that your father died while you were still missing." Her hand reached up to her heart, in an attempt to show that she cared, "It must've been just_ horrible_ to come home and hear that your father had died."

Lucy remained untouched by the woman's fake sympathy, "It was, but I know that he would want me to be happy and not mourn."

This statement earned Lucy a raised eyebrow. "Happiness, huh? That sounds like a loving father alright. Though from what I heard, you and your father didn't exactly get along...?"

Lucy clenched her fists, "I don't believe that has anything to do with you."

Lucy knew this game, and wasn't about to play it. Anyone with wealth wanted to be superior. The notion of happiness, which is something you can't see, smell, or more importantly buy, was nonsense to most people like them. The only exception she knew of was her parents.

"Well, I suppose you're right." The woman crossed her legs, and reclined back into the couch. "How about we move onto business?"

"Please do." Lucy mimicked the lady's posture as she spoke.

"Before we do, may I introduce myself?"

"By all means, go ahead."

The woman cleared her throat as if she were about to say something extremely important, "I am Mr. Jurener's wife; please address me as Mrs. Jurener."

Lucy was taken aback by this, but wasn't completely surprised. Something about this woman screamed a rich man's wife.

"Is that so?" Lucy smiled and extended her hand out, "Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Jurener."

With a smug look, she reached out and shook Lucy's hand once, "Likewise."

Two slight raps on the door interrupted their exchange.

"Oh, well that was the signal!" In an instant it seemed like her whole demeanor had changed. She had gone from a holier-than-thou atmosphere to a surprisingly light and bubbly one.

"Signal for what?" Lucy questioned.

"My dearest husband has arrived, and is on his way up to his office!"

She sprang up from her seat and grabbed Lucy by the hand, "Now the real business can begin, dear."

* * *

Lucy had been lead to an elevator and was instructed to go to the top floor.

"Now when you see him be sure to greet him properly, and respectfully." Mrs. Jurener spoke as she eased Lucy into the small space.

"You're not coming?" She questioned.

The woman only laughed at her statement as if Lucy were just a naïve child, "I cannot see him unless I'm summoned dear!"

And with that, the doors closed on Lucy and she was alone. Only the humming of the elevator was to be heard.

The needle which showed what floor she was currently on moved closer and closer to the top, making her nerves rise.

_I wonder what kind of man he is. If he's anything like that woman was…_ she didn't want to finish the thought.

After about a minute, she felt the elevator stop and the doors opened, revealing an office that looked fairly similar to the one her father once had.

She stepped out of the elevator and into the large room, noticing a desk and a chair facing the window in the middle of it.

"Excuse me; I believe you wanted to speak with me." She voiced into the room, making her presence known to she assumed was Jurener in the chair.

"I was beginning to wonder when you'd make it." He turned around in his chair and faced Lucy.

He was fairly old, wrinkles here and there on his face, telling her that he was most likely the same age as her father. He was clad in a dark blue suit, with a tie to match. Your typical wealthy man in Lucy's opinion.

"Well, I had much to think about. From what the letter said, it really didn't explain much of anything to me, and in result I decided to come as soon as I could."

"Hmph. I'm sorry the way I write is not to your liking."

"That's not what I-"

"How impolite." Jurener cut Lucy off and got up from his chair, circling around to the front. "It does not matter if you meant it or not. You said the words, and I interpreted them the way I heard them."

Lucy's fears were confirmed. This man was no kind-natured person.

"If I offended you, I'm deeply sorry." She apologized, not wanting to get on his bad side yet.

He nodded, approving of her faked regret, "That's better."

"May I ask what it is you'd like to speak to me about?"

"Hmm, I suppose we should get onto that." He circled back around his desk, and sat back into his chair again, "What I have to say will deeply affect your current life."

_What?_

"Despite the fact that your father had lost all of his fortune, and you had gone missing for seven years, the name you carry still holds tremendous weight and power. Also, it seems that your father had worked himself ragged in the time you were gone and came into a small fortune, which is no surprise from a man like him. Though, from the look on your face, it seems that he failed to give it to you before his death."

Without knowing it, Lucy's face had twisted into one of confusion._ Fortune? My name stills holds weight? What is all of this?!_

"I'm sorry, but yes, I don't know anything of this." Her voice was a little louder than a whisper, and colored in confusion.

"Well, you don't know everything yet, so just stand there and keep listening. Your father had also come into some debt with me in the past seven years. On top of the way he backed out of the marriage agreement between you and my son years ago, he failed to repay me before his unfortunate death."

She already knew where this was going, and she knew that there would be nothing she could do.

"I'm sure that someone like you, who comes from such a respected family, knows what I'm intending to say, right?"

"…." She couldn't respond to him.

"This all means that by being his daughter, and the only heir to the Heartfilia family, you too, are now in my debt. The law requires that any debt left behind by a parent must be repaid by an heir, and might I add that it is quite a large one."

"H-how much?"

"Seven hundred million Jewels."

The air was all but knocked out of Lucy. _F-five hundred million?!_ She'd always known that her father was someone who liked to take chances, but did he really believe that he'd be able to repay every cent of that?! There was no way she'd be able to pay that back to him in her lifetime.

"I've already given up on seeing that money again." He interrupted Lucy's panic-stricken thoughts, "I've only one intention, and it's the same one as seven years ago."

"Y-you don't mean to-"

"But I do, Ms. Heartfilia. Because your name still has power, and you're the only one I can force into this, you will marry my son, Ainsley Jurener."

Defiance welled up inside of Lucy, "There's no way I'd agree to this! Neither will my friends! They'll-"

"They'll what?" He questioned her statement before she could finish it, his voice piercing her body like venom.

"Believe me, I know all about your little friends and your life at that mage's guild. And I also know that there is one that you get along with especially well. Now, what was his name again?"

_Natsu! _She screamed his name in her head. "Don't you dare harm him!" Her voice was colored in anger, which wasn't usual for her.

"Oh. So I was right then. Ah, young love. This only makes the situation even more horrific for you."

Lucy couldn't help but redden a bit at his statement, she hadn't even admitted it to herself yet, but she knew it was true. Which is why this made her even more angry, "You'll only start a war with them!

Jurener began laughing, "Do you honestly believe they can hurt me?! If they do anything to damage me or my company, I can have them locked up for the rest of their lives. If they attack me, it'll just look like they did it out of evil, because you see, they'll be completely left out of the loop. They won't know a single thing."

"I _won't_ agree to this!" Lucy yelled, desperately searching for a way out in her mind.

"If you don't, then their lives will be forfeit."

Her mouth formed into a tight line at his words. _What does he mean?_

"Now, I wouldn't go so far as to kill them, but I can make sure that they never see daylight again. As you know, I'm head of a very well-known court house, and we have all the best lawyers. Some who I'm sure would be delighted to make up a law suit against your precious friends for some extra jewels."

"You wouldn't!" She screamed in protest.

"Oh, but I would." He laughed at her again, "I am a man of many things Ms. Heartfilia, and when I say I'm going to do something I do it."

She knew it. She knew that his threats and words were very real and very dangerous. That was it, she couldn't protest, she couldn't say anything that would change his mind. Unlike last time, this was something that his strength couldn't fix.

"Ah, I see you understand now." He stood up from his chair again, and walked closer to Lucy, eventually close enough to grab her by the chin.

He observed her face for a moment, and an odd look came across his face, "You really do look just like your mother."

Disgusted by his hand, she slapped it away, deliberately glaring at him.

"Hahah! Exactly like your mother…"

"Anyway," He stepped back a few feet and began speaking once more, "this is what you'll do. You'll go back to your shack of a home, and pack your things. Once you're done with that, you'll leave a note telling them that you couldn't stand it there another day. After that you will board a train to Crocus, and head to my son's private home on the outskirts of the city. From there, your new life will begin"

"They'll never believe the note." She scoffed at his words.

"Make them believe it." He retorted to her words immediately. "Now go. I'll give you one day. That should be enough time to do what I instructed."

She turned to leave, and didn't stop when he began speaking again, "And make sure you don't meet with any of them."

"FINE." She allowed her voice to hold all of her frustration, anger, detest, and sadness at the same time, making for a deeply wavering voice.

She opened the doors to the elevator, and pressed the button for the first floor.

It all of ten minutes, her life had changed.

She reached the lobby, and didn't stop to acknowledge Mrs. Jurener who was still waiting for her, she just kept going.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know you better! Future Mrs. Jurener!" The woman called out to Lucy.

The words went pierced through her, making her shudder and she ran out into the still pouring rain. Her legs carried her all the way to the train station, screaming at her that they needed a break.

She sat on one of the benches provided under the protection of the station's roof, trying not to let the tears escape her eyes, at least not yet.

Slowly, she reclined back and pulled her forearm over her eyes, shielding them from any on lookers.

"…Natsu…" his face was the only one she could think of in that moment. The feelings she had just realized because of Jurener, were welling up inside of her. It was almost as if they were mad at her for not realizing sooner.

_What can I do….?_

Nothing came to mind.

* * *

Back to the present time with, Natsu and Happy just arriving at Lucy's house. –

"Yo! Lucy!" "Luuucy!" Natsu and Happy called out to Lucy in unison as they climbed in through her window.

"Lucy! You here?!" Natsu yelled into the room, expecting Lucy to run out of the bathroom and yell at them to come in through the front door, but nothing was happening.

The pair fully entered the room, crawling over her bed and onto the wooden floor.

"I don't think she's here, Natsu." Happy, whom he had just managed to cheer up, let his ears fall down again.

Natsu stuck his nose in the air, and began sniffing, "She was here just a second ago."

"What?"

He kept sniffing, and confirmed what he just said for himself, "Yeah, there's a fresh scent in the room. Damn, we just missed her."

Happy sighed, and flew onto the top of the table, noticing a piece of paper on it when he landed. He picked it up and read the hastily scribbled words, not believing them as he did.

Once he was done, he called Natsu over, knowing that he would need to see this, and that it wouldn't be pretty after he did.

"What's up?" Natsu replied as he noticed the paper Happy was holding, "Did you find something?"

"Yeah. You should read it…"

Wary by the look Happy was now giving, Natsu took the note and began reading, and about half-way through he burnt the paper to ashes.

"What the hell is _that_?!" Natsu yelled down towards the ashes now piled on the ground. "If she was feeling that way then why didn't she tell us?!"

Happy covered his ears, and tried to calm Natsu down, but to no avail.

"_Fuck_ this! I'm going to look for her!" Natsu yelled again as he made his way out of the house.

"Do you even know where she is?" Happy flew after him.

"I told you we had just missed her, so she can't be that far ahead! I'll just check the station first!"

And with that, he ran off leaving even Happy behind in speed.

"Natsuu…" Happy hovered in the air for a moment, and decided to go back to the guild and tell everyone what happened, knowing that Natsu wouldn't stop for anything now.

* * *

_Damn it! What the hell is she thinking?!_ Natsu thought as he ran with all his might, making his lungs hurt in the process.

Already the thought of Lucy leaving like this was out of the question. There was no way he'd let her leave like that. Not even if she were to say goodbye face to face, not even then.

_Damn it!_

He sped up even more, pushing himself to his very limits, hoping she'd be there when he arrived.


	4. Chapter 4

Lucy's mind was drifting off as she stood in the middle of the train station. The bustling people and all of the noise were blurred out to her eyes and ears. Her only thought was what awaited her at the outskirts of Crocus. Would her husband to be, be a nice man? Or would he turn out to be just like his mother and father? Her mind told her it would be the latter. She shook those thoughts off and decided to wait until she got there to deal with it.

_I wonder if they got my note…._

It had broken her heart to write those words, but it was necessary. If they were all to live happy lives, and continue on with their missions, if the only price was for her to be married to a man she didn't love, then that would be fine with her. It was fine as long as the man she truly did love was alright.

Though, she wasn't foolish enough to believe that they would immediately be okay without her. She knew that they all loved her like family. Hell, they were family. But, they would be okay over time. Things won't stop just because you're feeling unhappy, or angry. Time moves on and you have to move with it. This was the lesson she had learned when her parents died. It'll still hurt as much as the day it happened when you think about it, but when you do, you should immediately think of all the good times.

She bowed her head and continued thinking for a while. The amount of people were increasing, so she knew the train would arrive at any second. She turned her gaze down the tracks and saw the large railway vehicle coming down the tracks.

"I guess this is it." She spoke to herself these words, in hopes of letting go of her life here to some extent, when she suddenly heard a voice calling out her name. A voice that she wanted to hear so desperately, yet wished would go away.

"LUUUCYY!" It was Natsu's rough voice ringing out above the station.

Her tear stained eyes darted towards the source and she saw him. His hair was windblown, he face was beaded with sweat, and his eyes were full of worry. What was supposed to be a look that would make most girls run from him, made her heart race uncontrollably.

"Natsu…" she whispered his name, but immediately wished she hadn't.

From what she saw, he had been having a hard time trying to find her until she spoke. She guessed that with her scent mixed in with everyone else in the station made it hard for him to locate her, but when she spoke his head darted towards the source and the two connected eyes.

"LUCY!" His usually unmistakable voice was faded out by the sound of the train pulling in.

_This is bad. I need to go_. With one last glance towards the incoming Natsu, she turned her head and darted for the train, but he was much faster than she was.

A scorching hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her backwards just before she was able to step onto the train, making her heart race once again.

Natsu twirled her around and grabbed her by the shoulders, careful not to hold on too tight. "What's going on Lucy?!"

She couldn't respond nor look at him face to face.

"What was with that note you left?! Why are you saying you're leaving?!"

His voice was beginning to break through her defenses, and the tears she had been holding back began to flow freely, "I…..I…" _I need to get away._

Natsu's grip on her shoulders softened as he saw the tears dripping from her face. This wasn't a sight he wanted to see.

"Why are you crying? Can you just tell me what's going on?"

"I can't."

His anger was increasing, not towards Lucy, but towards whatever it was that was making her feel this way. "You can't get on this train Lucy!"

"I have to!"

"Then tell me why! Why're you leaving the guild?! Why're you leaving all of us?!"

"I CAN'T TELL YOU!"

Finally, she looked him in the eye. And Natsu could've sworn that the face she was making ripped his heart straight from his chest.

_What the hell is this?!_ He yelled to himself as an inexplicable emotion was spreading throughout his body, and washing through him from head to toe. In his chest, there was the worst pain imaginable. It was worse than any of the injuries he had gotten from battle.

His arms began moving on their own, and wrapped themselves around Lucy's small frame, the urge and want to hold her increasing by the moment.

"N-no.." Her will was beginning to grow weaker by the moment, and the warning bell for the train went off.

Most of the people had ignored their confrontation with each other and boarded the train, so it was just the two of them in the station now. She needed to find a way to leave him and get on the train. Once she was on it he couldn't follow her. His motion sickness was her advantage here; that is if she could get on the train first.

And suddenly it hit her. She needed to make him let go, just long enough for her to reach the train doors. So, she mustered up her strength, pushed against his chest, lifted her face to his, and kissed him.

His mouth was hot, and it sent warm shivers down her spine. His lips were surprisingly soft, but they were unmoving and she saw his eyes staring down at her in shock. Just as she'd planned.

With the knowledge that this would be the last time she saw him, she felt herself become desperate. Her hand snaked up the back of his neck and stopped at the beginnings of his hair, pushing her lips just a little harder on his before letting go.

Natsu was completely still, and his eyes were firmly connected with hers, "Lucy… you-"

"I'm sorry." She backed away a few steps from him and tried to give him the smile that she had always shared with him, "Goodbye."

And with that, her legs unwillingly carried her to through the train doors, just in time for her not to be left behind.

The train began accelerating onwards, and Natsu finally snapped out of the trance he had been in, noticing that Lucy was no longer in front of him. He began running, trying to keep up with Lucy in the train.

"LUCY!" He yelled her name for the third time that day.

She laid her hand on the window of the door, and smiled at him with tears falling down her face, mouthing something he'd never thought of her saying to him.

With his sight that was very similar to that of dragons, he very clearly saw the words she mouthed to him.. through the window.

The simple words that caused his chest to tighten, and his heart to race with emotions he'd never felt before.

The words "I Love You."

* * *

Natsu, defeated and angry, confused and sad, trudged into the guild not knowing what the hell had just happened. Lucy had left a note saying she was leaving, he'd gone after her, she wouldn't tell him anything, and on top of it all, she'd kissed him and said she loved him.

_Then why the hell would she leave?! _ He thought again. He couldn't get his brain around it. If she felt that way, then she couldn't have been leaving by her own will. There was something else in this problem, he knew Lucy would never do this by herself, so something or someone must be forcing her to.

_Agh! But what the hell is it?!_ The answer still wasn't coming to him, but it didn't really matter. It's not like he was just going to give up there. He would find her, kick whoever's ass was doing this to her, and drag her back here.

"su…"

"Natsu!"

"Natsu!" An armored hand suddenly collided with his face, and he staggered backwards, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Get your ass back down to Earth Natsu!" Erza yelled at him with a slightly worried voice, and Natsu noticed everyone in the guild circling around him, "What happened?! Happy came into the guild by himself, told us that Lucy was leaving and that you went after her. Where is she now? What the hell is going on?" She finished her interrogation and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for an answer.

Natsu looked at all the worried faces around him, feeling like the most useless person in the world for not being able to bring her back from the station. He rubbed his eyes, and tried to clear his head before answering, "She's gone. She boarded a train and left."

"What?!" A unison of voices sounded throughout the room.

"And why didn't you stop her?!" Erza yelled at him again.

"I…was kinda in shock there for a moment…and she ran onto the train without me noticing…" Damn, he was feeling like an idiot.

"Shock? Why were you in shock?"

"I…can't tell you." The emotions he was feeling earlier rushed back into his body, and he felt his face becoming extremely hot. _Damn it! Why do I feel embarrassed?!_

" 't.**What**?" Half of Erza's face went dark, and she equipped one of her most deadly swords.

"Ah!" Natsu's hands went up in surrender, "Okay! Okay! I'll tell you everything!"

"Good." She nodded in satisfaction and pointed to a chair that Gray was pulling out of a table that Levy, Wendy, Carla and Happy were now sitting at.

Sighing and feeling extremely fatigued, he made his way over, sat down, and laid everything out on the table, trying to keep his face from going red when he explained the last part.

"O-oh, I see." Erza, who was obviously happy about that last development, turned her head away from Natsu, trying to hide her blushing face and smile.

"Pfft. You were in shock over a kiss? Some dragon slayer you are." Gray laughed and insulted him from across the table.

"Shut the hell up you damn Icehead!" Natsu turned his head away from the table of giggles and insults and towards the front of the guild. As he did, he noticed Gramps walking in, holding a newspaper in his hands.

"Natsu!" He called out into the guild as he entered, and Natsu came running to him, grateful to have pulled him away from that table.

"Gramps, I have to tell you some-"

"I think I've got the gist of it." Makarov cut him off, and handed him the newspaper, "I was actually going to ask if you knew about this, but" he surveyed the guild, "from the looks of everyone here, I'd say that you lot are as clueless as me."

Natsu took the paper in hand, and read in big bold letters on the front "Huge Wedding to be held at the Jurener Mansion by the Town of Crocus!"

He read further, trying to see what was so important about this, and he finally saw it, "The handsome heir to the Jurener family Ainsley Jurener, is to be married to the orphaned heir of the once miraculous Heartfilia family, Lucy Heartfilia. It will be an invitation only party, formal dress required, and will be held two days from the date of today's paper."

Natsu began shaking in anger, his whole body felt like it was practically vibrating,"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" he roared out towards the paper in his hands, and crumpling the sides of it.

"What is it?" Erza and the rest who were at the table came and stood behind Natsu, reading the paper for their selves.

"So, she says she loves you, but now she's getting married?" Erza voiced out her thoughts.

"I know!" Natsu turned around to Erza, "I don't get anything either! I mean, just what the hell is this?! Why couldn't she tell me?! What's she thinking?! What is this damn feeling I have?!"

"Natsu!" Erza put one hand on his shoulder, "Calm down. Nothing will be solved if you start to lose it."

"How the hell can I _calm down?!_" He turned around, shaking off her hand made his way for the entrance of the guild.

"Where are you going?!" Gray called out after him.

"I'm going to go find her. She's going to Crocus right?! I'll just go there!"

"And what will you do when you get there?! We need a plan Natsu! Calm down!" Erza tried to reason with him.

"I have a plan. I'm going to go kick this bastard _**"**__Ainsley's__**" ass**_ and bring Lucy back!"

Erza stopped following him, and equipped a very large hammer, "I said, CALM DOWN!" She swung and connected with Natsu's body, though it wasn't enough to bring him down.

"Ack!" He rubbed his side, and turned back to her, "What the fuck?! What was that for?!"

"You're acting too rashly, Natsu! I already have a good idea about what's going on, so hear me out!"

"She's right Natsu." Gray came walking out of the guild, along with Happy, Carla, Wendy, and Levy. "We need a plan. We can't just barge into a wedding and steal the bride."

"I never said that we wouldn't." Erza's voice changed from a reasoning one, to one that held a plan behind it. Her face held a sort of devious look and she held her fist up in determination.

She motioned for everyone to gather around, and informed them of what she thought was going on, and what they were going to do.

"That's the plan, okay? No one is to do anything other than that, understand?!"

"Aye." Everyone voiced in a scared unison.

"Alright, it's late now so everyone should go home. We'll head out in the morning." She dismissed them, and everyone began giving their goodnights, disappearing one by one.

Just as Natsu and Happy were about to leave, Erza stopped them, "Natsu, come here for a second."

"What is it?" His voice lacked his usual tone. It sounded incredibly dull and tired.

"I think it would be best if you were to sort out all of your thoughts and emotions tonight. I caught what you said earlier, that "what is this damn feeling I have?!" She impersonated his voice on this part, "And I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but I want to know if you think you might know."

"I…I think I do." He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed to have to be saying this to her.

She smiled, and patted the top of his head, "Well that's good. Make sure that you're positive about it tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Yeah, night."

Erza turned her back and disappeared in the direction of the girls housing.

"Natsuu…" Happy came walking up to him, looking even sadder than he did when they were at Lucy's place earlier.

"I know Happy," He bent down, scooped him up in his arms, and began walking them to their rarely occupied house.

_My feelings, huh?_ Natsu began thinking to himself as Happy fell asleep in his arms. He'd never thought that Lucy would say that to him. Of course, to him, she was much more than just a friend, but he'd been too clueless about things like love and such to realize why she was more than a friend.

Now that he was thinking about it, and he knew her feelings, it seemed painfully obvious that he loved her.

_Woah…love huh? This is what it feels like?_ There'd never been a time where he thought that one friend of his was more important than the other, or more special to him, but this was different. Everyone was still important, they were still his friends, but Lucy was just… _different_somehow.

He didn't understand it, nor was he going to try, but he knew what he knew. He knew that not seeing her again wasn't an option, and that the thing he wanted most right now was to save her from what made her cry by herself the other day.

Happy stirred in his arms, as they were nearing their home. Natsu's mind had been set, and his determination was flaring up. He went over the plan in his head once more, and entered the house, leaving his confusion at the door.


	5. Chapter 5

The air was thick, and her lungs wouldn't take it normally. Her hiccups, and sobs weren't audible, but they could definitely be felt with a

burning sensation in her abdomen. She sat by herself in private room that had been paid for by Jurener, a definite waste of his money, but it was nonsensical to think that he'd care. Though, it was probably better that she was alone. Her whole body had shaking with sadness from her departure from home, shaking with the wondering if she would ever see it again.

And what made it all the more painful was that Natsu had been the last person she saw. Lucy's mind kept thinking about if kissing him, and mouthing she loved him was a good thing to do. Though, she didn't regret it one bit. The only worry was that he would take that as an invitation to come after her, which would mean that all of what she was doing would be for nothing.

_Please,_ she pleaded in her mind to Natsu and everyone at the guild, _please…just stay where you are._

* * *

A few restless hours passed, and the train arrived in the station just outside of Crocus. It halted to a noisy stop as she collected her things, and almost turned to tell Natsu that his torture was over and get Happy to wake up. She caught herself mid-sentence as her mind computed once again with reality, noticing that the room was empty aside from herself.

Lucy's booted feet carried her off the train, and her face was hit by a gust of cold air, making her hair fly wildly behind her. It was cold, and the country side brought back a sense of familiarity, bringing back memories of her family's former estate.

"Isn't it just lovely?"A fairly old woman with laugh lines and wrinkles scattered about her face placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder, gesturing to the land.

"Y-yes." It would've been lovely if she weren't here for the reasons she was.

The woman nodded with a smile, her laugh lines bunching up, and slowly walked away, her cane hitting the floor with every step. She could feel the warmth of the woman's hand leave her shoulder, when it was suddenly replaced by a cold one.

"Miss Lucy, I presume?" She spun her head around in an instant, scared by the suddenness of the man's touch.

"Wha-" "I'm here to retrieve you." The man lightly grabbed hold of Lucy's wrist, and began leading her to a carriage that sat by the entrance by the station. If it had been there all along, she did not know.

Her eyes met with the luxurious carriage. It was much like the one she would often ride when she was younger. _They don't waste any time, do they?_ Feeling a tightening on her wrist, she looked down and jerked her hand back.

The man turned around, alarmed. No doubt they were told to be extra cautious that I don't run away.

"I'm not going to run. So there's no need for me to be led like a child." Seemingly not satisfied by this, the man gestured with his hand for Lucy to walk ahead of him.

"As you wish, miss." Clearly, no trust was to be won with these people. _Just what did Jurener say to them? _

With one small glare towards the man, Lucy turned her head, and walked a short distance to the carriage. One big step, and then she met with the carpeted floor and two sued seats.

The man from earlier, shut the door once she was settled in, and swiftly went to the driver's position. Before he took off, she noticed that the man gave both of the horses a quick pat, and mutter something that sounded like "Thank you for the hard work."

Her tense shoulders relaxed a tiny bit at the sight of this. It reminded her of all the friends she had at her former home. Her butlers and her maids. They had all been nice people, so maybe she was too quick to assume that just because they worked under Jurener, they were just like him. And because of this thought, a sliver of hope entered her body that Jurener's son, wasn't like him.

"Yah!" The man gave a shout, signaling the horses to move, and the carriage began onwards. Towards a place that was too unknown for comfort.

* * *

A few hours, some really high hills, the passing of some large trees and gate and she was there. The carriage pulled up to the front of

a daftly large mansion. White pillars, flowers, too many windows too count and a large porch was what decorated the front of the it. From Lucy's eyes, it seemed to be about three stories high, and almost twice the size of her old home.

"He really wasn't kidding…." Her mouth closed into a tight line. _Anyone with this kind of money can do anything he or she please, and get away with it beautifully. _

Her hand reached for the door but it opened before she touched it.

The man had already gotten off the driver's seat and made it to the door. His face held a scolding look, "There is no need for you to get the door yourself. Please, remember that you are becoming the lady of the home, and you must act accordingly."

Lucy grabbed her things, and jumped off the carriage in a very unladylike manner in response, "I can take care of myself." She turned to face him, "Nonetheless, I understand how to act in a house like this."

Her mouth gave way to a small, distant laugh, "Though, I really do belong in a dirty bar, laughing freely with noisy friends who fight all the time."

A confused face colored the man's features before he shook it off and carried on. "I'm only saying and doing as instructed miss."

The door opened as they walked up to the house and were met with two maids, bowing their heads in greeting.

"Welcome back ." they spoke in unison.

_So, Henway's his name?_ Her eyebrow raised in curiosity. There was something familiar about it.

"Master Ainsley is waiting in his room. He says he'd very much like to meet the Miss."

_His room? _She almost spoke the question aloud. Her mind was so close to deciding to run. To run herself all the way back to Fairy Tail. Whatever was about to happen didn't sit well with her.

_Calm down Lucy._ She thought to herself as she was led by the maids up the massive stairwell. _It won't happen. Nothing bad will happen. He just wants to meet me. _She forced her mind to remember that sliver of hope that reared itself in the carriage.

Two raps on the door brought her face to face with a deeply detailed door. The name "Ainsley Jurener" was carved into it, obviously pointing out that she was a few seconds away from meeting the man she was going to marry.

"Come in." The voice was deep and smooth, giving her an instant image of what she thought he looked like. The only real thing she knew about him was that he was now seven years older than her. Back during the Phantom incident, she'd been informed that they were the same age. Though now, she thought, seven years have passed and this man is already a full grown adult.

The maid on the left of her opened the door, and Ainsley was revealed to her eyes. He seemed to be a man of little above average height, and his black hair was slicked back over the top if his head, leaving a short strand hanging on his forehead. His eyes were a deep blue, and he wore a suit; common for someone living in this house. Ainsley gave a small smug smile as he sat his body down on his couch, a body and a face which held no appeal for Lucy.

_Natsu's still way better looking._ She couldn't help but think this as she felt the "Holier-Than-Thou" aura leaking from him. Though, she regretted it as her chest tightened at the thought of him.

"Shut the doors." He gave the command, and the maids immediately did as told. Not a word was uttered from them. Only a sad, expecting look was placed on their faces.

Click. The door shut and the room was silent. Lucy still stood in the doorway. It wasn't possible for her to know what to do in this situation; so she didn't move and fixated her eyes on the window across the room, waiting for him to say the first words.

But he didn't. He just sat there in his seat, drinking what looked like wine, and staring at her.

Sip. Blink. Stare.

Sip. Blink. Stare.

Nerve-wracking wasn't the word to describe her feelings. It was more like utter disgust. She felt like she was a show being observed by critics, being decided if she were good enough. Her fists clenched, and she turned to Ainsely.

"How long do you intend to keep staring?"_ Pig_.

He nodded in what seemed like approval, and set his wine glass on his table, "I was actually waiting to see how long you would stand there like that." He got up and walked over to his wardrobe, "Not that I minded it any. You're quite pleasuring to the eyes."

Unconsciously, her arms wrapped around her lower torso at the statement, feeling the obvious sexual intent behind his words. All the hope she held for the kindness of this man was sadly, in an instant, gone.

"I'm sorry I can't return the feeling." She knew her words were going to have consequence, but as for the moment she didn't care.

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow, still rummaging through his wardrobe, "Is there something keeping you from that? It's not like you have anything else you can go back to, so why resist?"

It seemed that he found what he was looking for when he shut the doors, and turned around to face Lucy once again, "Is there something holding you back? Is it hope, perhaps? Because I can handle that much easily."

Ainsley paused his words, and went to sit back down where he was sitting, the strange garment still clutched in his hand, "But, if it's something as stubborn as love…" he chuckled, "Well, then that may be a problem."

"Do you in fact have hope that you'll be able to leave? Or did you have someone you held dear back in that filth of a guild?"

"It's NOT filth!" she snapped at his foul words.

"Well, that is your opinion." He brushed off her outburst and kept going, "I heard from my father that there was one person in particular with whom you got along especially well with. What was his name?" he thought for a moment, sarcastically trying to remember, "Would you be a doll and remind me?"

_What a dirty play._ He was just rubbing salt in her wounds. Trying to break her into an obedient submission, "I don't see why my past relations concern you." She tried to keep her voice under control as her body shifted into a position where her eyes looked to her feet, and her nails began digging into her palms.

A laugh was heard from across the room, "Well, seeing that you're going to become my wife tomorrow, I would feel jealous if you still had any lingering affections for anyone."

Nothing but lies were coming from his mouth, but she didn't see any other choice, "His name is Natsu." Her voice broke on the last syllable of his name._ Damn it. _

"I see." Lucy looked up, and saw Ainsley's turn into a calculating one, "And what of the boy's feelings?"

"I'm not sure." Though knowing Natsu, he might've been too dense for her words to have gotten through to him. _No, he's not stupid._ She mentally scolded herself._ I did kiss him after all. He must've understood to some extent. _

"Well, should I have him removed from the equation personally?" he tried his luck with her temper; wading around the edges before he struck a nerve.

"He'd kick your ass in an instant."

"Oh, but he wouldn't would he? Not after you broke all your little friends' hearts?"

Her mouth wouldn't reply. It felt like her heart stopped at his words. Broke their hearts….? N… no….. I-…did I…? Unconsciously, her head tilted downwards as she began thinking. It was obvious that they wouldn't just let go, and immediately be happy. They would be sad, she knew that much, but… broken hearts? That part hadn't immediately gotten through to her. Though, it was more like her subconscious was trying avoiding realizing that.

Across the room, it seemed that Ainsley noticed that he struck the nerve he had been looking for.

"Speechless are you? Have you finally come to realize the full weight of your situation?" A sigh slipped from his mouth, and he got up from his chair again, slowly making his way towards Lucy.

Her ear twitched as she heard the movement, and she snapped her head up in a flash. Ainsley was making his way toward her, still holding the garment in his boney hand. It was sickening. It was like the clichéd phrase "a lion stalking its prey."

"Wha…" She started backing up, leaving the beginning of her word in the air.

Left and right, her feet moved backwards toward the door. She desperately hoped that the door had somehow magically opened, but as her back bumped against it, that hope disappeared.

"Hope is fleeting." Ainsley spoke, reading the expression on Lucy's face. His breath wafted onto her cheek; hot but still chilling her down to the bone. A hand lifted to her waist, and it took everything within her being to not slap it away. The last thing that needed to happen was for him to get angry. Not only for her friends sake, but hers as well. There was no telling what he was capable of.

_But…_ Her face scrunched up in reluctance as the hand that held the garment abandoned it, and went up to her to her cheek.

Her vision began blurring as she saw his face coming in closer, leaning in towards the front of her neck. Again, she felt his breath, but in a split second, that disgusting warmth was replaced with a mouth. The bastard was leaving a mark on her. And to make it worse, he left it in the most noticeable place.

"STOP IT!" Both of her hands used all the force she could muster, and pushed Ainsley away from her, not being able to take any more of his presence.

Furiously, her hand began rubbing on her neck, desperate to have his DNA off of her.

"So you do have some fight in you after all." He chuckled in response to her actions. "That makes it even more fun for me."

"You ass." She tried to make the words insulting, but her voice was too soft and shaky to make it work.

Ainsley clicked in tongue in disapproval, "We'll have to do something about that mouth of yours though. And don't worry," he fixed his suit, and walked past Lucy opening the door, "I'll wait until it's dark out to do anything. It would be indecent otherwise."

He was almost out the door when he said one last thing, "Oh, and be sure to wear that."

She looked at the piece of clothing he had dropped and cringed away from it. Just looking at it made her feel uncomfortable.

He laughed and finally left the room.

The door clicked shut and she was alone. Her keys had been taken from her, her home was over hundreds of miles away, she was forced to leave her family, forced to leave Natsu; she was simply alone. A feeling she had once been overly familiar with.

After standing there for a minute, her knees gave, making her slide down the door and land on the floor. Not bothering to get up, she pulled her legs up to her chest and hid her face in them. She ignored the fact the he would eventually come back, and just let herself be swallowed by her emotions, or better worded, her lack of them.

It was becoming empty, her capacity for emotions. Depression was the only one left.

In the silence of the room, she muttered Natsu's name and immediately followed with small sobs, finally accepting her reality.

It was time to move on.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm deeply sorry for the wait! This update took way longer than it should've! A lot of things started happening, and just ahsdfskfdghskjfh;a... soorry.**

**I'm finally getting back to it, so without any more rambling, here you are! I try and update again soon.c:**

* * *

Hours passed on into the night, and Lucy still hadn't moved from her spot, not particularly caring whether or not she was cold, uncomfortable, or frightened. It didn't matter, as did much else to her now. Everything had been taken away from her. Her friends, her family, her home, her spirits, ... the chance for a happy life with someone she loved... gone. All of it. All because of a filthy man who wanted nothing more than money and publicity.

Her hand rubbed her sore eyes dully, wiping some of the left over tears that still lingered there, when a sudden shaking in her magical power practically shook her body, scaring her half to death. As she felt it once more, she realized the familiarity of the feeling. It was Loke, he was trying to open his own gate.

She sighed and locked it even further, something she had learned to do over a course of time. It was a precautionary measure she took in case anyone had tried to steal her keys and summon them. If she had increased her control on their gates, and as long as she was still in a contract with them, then no one would be able to hurt them when and if they weren't attached to her hip. Natsu had deemed this idea weird, and proceeded to call her the same, in which she responded by giving him a whack on the head, eliciting the cutest of pouts from his features.

"I'm sorry Loke." she sniffed a small response up to him in the spirit realm, "I have to do this. I know I'm an idiot for accepting it, but there honestly isn't any other way. I've wracked my brain around in over and over again, there's just nothing else I can do." Her lungs gave way to a bitter laugh, one that she had not thought herself capable of, "I suppose money really _does_ rule the world."

She felt another rumble in her magic as she spoke that last sentence, "Sorry," she apologized, guessing at what he was saying, "I'm just a little sad you know?"

One more mental lock on his gate, and it went silent. She felt horrible for locking him up, but there was no helping it. The disappointment they were radiating up there was practically suffocating her. It was like a slap in the face to them, or at least that was what it felt like to her.

Another sigh escaped from her body, her mind paying it no heed, it was a normal thing now. She looked to the clock placed by that man's bed, it now read 9 o'clock in the evening, and she knew he would be coming back at some point in the night. He had told her so, and he looked like someone who would follow _that_ kind of promise through.

The rational part of her mind berated current way of thinking. Why was she staying there? Why hadn't she left his room yet? She knew he was going to come back, yet she did nothing to stop her eyes from seeing that bastard again.

_Why?_ She asked the rational part of herself, _it because of how terrified I am. I'm numb. My body won't move even if I tell it too._

_Then make it move! You're not some helpless little girl! Are you really going to let that man come in here, and take the few things you have left?! Are you going to be __**submissive**__?!_

The few minutes of mental abuse she gave herself seemed to have snapped some sense into her body, because she was now on her feet and facing the door, hand on the knob. But as she went to turn it, something was wrong. It wasn't opening, the knob wasn't moving in the slightest, let alone the door opening. She turned it again, a futile attempt she learned soon afterwards. Her heart was beginning to thump erratically, drumming loudly in her ears as she whipped her head around the dark room, instantaneously fearing its shadows._ How ironic_, a small part of her mind thought. _You lock up your spirits, and now you're the one being locked away._

Lucy dashed over to the only window in the room, and pulled the curtain back, revealing more moonlight than her eyes could handle, blinding her momentarily. She blinked her sight back into check, and pulled the window open from the ledge up, peering out. The distance from the window to the ground was a numerous amount, if she were to even attempt trying to get down there... well it wouldn't be pretty.

_But there's no other way out!_ She screamed at herself. If the door wasn't a thick solid wood, she would've broken it down, but that wasn't the case so it obviously wasn't an option!

Looking from the door, the window, and the bed, an idea popped into her head. She rushed over to the bed and yanked she sheets off of it, hastily tying each sheet by knotting them together at the ends, it was a stupid idea, but at this point she would do anything to get out of that room.

Once her hands finished tying the last knot, she quickly secured the makeshift rope to the bedpost, which thankfully wasn't that far from the window. With another glance outside, she threw the rest of it out, hoping that it at least made it somewhat close to the ground, and to her relief it was it most likely three feet from the grass.

But what Lucy did not know, was that in her blind haste to escape, the door behind her had been unlocked and opened, giving entrance to a tall dark figure that was now closing in on her.

* * *

The night passed with unease, anger, and mix of a million other emotions for Natsu. He'd dealt with his feelings, got them in check, and realized fully just how much Lucy meant to him. For some reason, it became painfully clear now that she was being kept from him. She was literally all his mind was on, not that he minded that. It was pleasant for his thoughts to be plagued by the whiny, short tempered, _beautiful_ celestial mage he had brought to Fairy Tail. The way she'd carry herself with this unwavering determination, how she held her spirits so_ fondly_, her corny jokes she'd make from time to time that he never really got but laughed anyway to elicit a smile from her features. It was all very appealing, and he scolded the overly dense part of himself that had not realized all of this sooner.

But, now that the sun had come up, it was time to set things in motion. He donned his pants, and one sleeved vest, securing Igneels scarf to his neck in his usual fashion, as he gently patted Happy's back to wake him.

With a sigh, Happy blinked his eyes twice before gaining full consciousness. His tiny blue features contorting into sadness as the past day's event came flooding back into his mind. The blue cat got up from his usual spot on their bed, and flew over to Natsu, promptly landing on his shoulder.

"Is it time to go already?" his small voice sounded in Natsu's ear.

"Yeah." He patted his friends head, and proceeded out the door, leaving their small hut unlocked as usual. "We're going to get Lucy back. No matter what's happening, even if she protests, we're taking her back."

"_Aye..._"

Natsu nodded to confirm his own words, and set off down the hill their home was on top of, thinking over everything to the point where he was now just plain pissed off.

* * *

It was roughly around seven in the morning as the group that was selected by Erza to retrieve Lucy arrived at the doors of the guild. Erza and Gray stood together silently, their heads turning to Natsu when he arrived. Gray looked as if he were about to comment on something, but noticed the look on his face and knew that he wasn't in the mood for any type of playful banter.

"Natsu." Erza nodded in greeting when he fully joined them. "Did you think about what we talked about the other night?" She added a bit warily, knowing full well how difficult it can be when facing one's feelings.

"Huh?" Gray chimed in, unaware of what they were speaking about.

"Yeah." he responded clearly, shaking his head when Happy also inquired about it. "I'll tell you later."

Running a hand over his face and through his hair, he noticed when no one else seemed to be coming. "Is it just us?" his voice carried a false worry. It didn't matter how many people were coming, even if it were just him he'd bust in there and kick everyone's asses.

"No." Erza turned her focus down the street, "Levy is also coming with the accompaniment of Wendy and Gajeel. They're out right now getting some things we need."

"Ironhead?" Natsu voice colored in surprise; he didn't seem like one to get in on a rescue.

"_Apparently_," Erza gave a slight smirk, "he didn't want Levy to go without him. At least that's what my sources tell me."

_Sources huh?_ Natsu shuddered at the thought of Erza's sources, he didn't even want to go into that topic, "What things do we even need?" he questioned sounding a bit annoyed, "All we need is our fists right?"

Her head shot back to him and stared in annoyance at his statement, "Do you think we can even get _into_ a high class wedding looking like we do now?" she gestured towards Gray who had already lost his shirt, and then towards Natsu who was sporting his usual wear.

"What about it?" he looked down and found himself to be relatively clean, he even lifted his shirt up to his nose to smell it. Not like he needed to anyway, his sense of smell, of course, was better than anyone else's.

Erza sighed and lost hope of explaining it to him, promptly threatening Gray for him to put his shirt back on.

"Erza! Gray! Natsu!" the trio turned their heads to the caller of their names, and saw a petite Levy, and Wendy running towards them from down the cobbled street, a freakishly tall man compared to them in tow. Upon seeing them, Natsu noticed the fairly large bags the two girls had in hand, each carrying two.

"What're those? The _"things"_ we need?" he voiced the quotations around the word "things".

"Yes." Erza smiled in satisfaction, "You did well to return here so quickly. Good job."

Levy gave an exasperated sigh, "Well, with Gajeel standing behind us, the clerk made sure not to waste any time." She gestured to the dragon slayer above her, "We practically got the clothes for free."

"Clothes?" Gray and Natsu spoke in unison, confusion clearly showing on their faces.

"Yes clothes." Erza retrieved the bags from the two girls, and gave a set of two to each of the confused men standing behind her.

"One bag holds a suit, and the other a pair of shoes. Now," she turned and opened the doors to the guild, "go get your selves dressed! And be_ quick_ about it!"

The frightened pair was gone, running off into the guild as the order left her mouth. "Alright," she grinned, "my turn."

Her requip magic shown out from her body, revealing it for the slightest second before a black halter dress covered it. The straps wound behind her neck and tied themselves, her scarlet hair was instantly done in a wild yet elegant fashion, and black pumps donned themselves on her feet, leaving her looking like some type of goddess in Levy's opinion.

"How does it look?" a satisfactory grin spread amongst her face, waiting for the two blue headed girl to respond.

"It looks great Erza-san." the shy little Wendy blushed the slightest bit when replying, most likely because of the cleavage Erza was showing off.

"Yeah, you look amazing!" Levy added to the little dragon slayers compliment.

Gajeel, who was still silently standing behind Levy, shook his head to himself. They were tying way too hard to pretend like everything was normal. They missed the bunny girl desperately, but, he assumed, they just didn't want to show their worry or anger for the sake of others. Though he noticed Salamander wasn't so secretive. When they arrived, even though he seemed to have a normal face on, Gajeel had practically smelled the rage on him.

Few minutes passed, and the two who had run off into the guild finally came back, dressed in the ware that Erza had forced on them. Gray, looked seemingly comfortable enough, no stranger to the feel of a suit, even going as far as fixing his hair, Natsu on the other hand looked utterly _pained_ to have the clothes on. He walked back to the group, tugging and pulling in all the places the suit felt wrong, which was everywhere. His tie was hanging on his neck because he was at a loss as to how he was supposed to tie the damn thing.

"You two look good." Erza nodded in approval, and then noticed how strained Natsu face was becoming. She sighed and walked over to him, yanking his tie into place, and then turned back to Gray. "Hand me your hair gel Gray."

Gray, seemingly taken aback by Erza's words retorted, "Wh- how do you know I have gel?!"

She gave him a skeptical look, "Your hair doesn't stick up like that on its own, and Natsu doesn't count because he uses his unnatural heat on it." she stuck her hand out to him in annoyance, "Now hand it over."

Blushing from embarrassment, he took the mini hair gel container from his pocket, and shoved it into Erza extended hand, "Here." he grumbled in response.

Without hesitating, she took up the gel and poured a generous amount into the palm of her hand; "Come over here Natsu." she motioned for him to duck his head down so that she could fix it more easily.

"You're not putting that _crap_ in my hair!" he protested and soon regretted it when a dark aura began surrounding Erza's body. Without sparing another second, he ducked down a bit and Erza got to work, quickly slicking his hair back over his head, leaving a few strands hanging on his forehead.

"There." she stepped back and rubbed her hands together to get rid of the sticky feeling the gel had left.

"Why doesn't he have to wear this damned suit?" Natsu glared at Gajeel who had a smug look on his face.

"These two squirts and I aren't going to the wedding dumbass. We have to scope everything out, remember?" was all Gajeel said in reply, eliciting a rumble in Natsu's chest.

"Whatever. I'm going now, so if you guys are coming hurry up." He had been in a sour mood when he got there, and was only growing more and more frustrated by the minute. He just wanted to leave and get Lucy back. Now.

"Alright," Erza gave a nod to their small retrieval group, a serious and quite angry face appearing on her face, "let's head out. Everyone knows the plan. We'll get Lucy back no matter what."

A choir of "yeah's" and agreements sounded as Happy landed on Natsu's shoulder once again.

"**Damn straight**."


	7. Chapter 7

Back to the night before-

_Click._ The door shut as fast as it had opened.

Now, a silhouette slowly stalked up to Lucy, tall and dark, seemingly enjoying the fact that she was still completely oblivious to their presence. Though, he stopped for just a moment not quite ready to let the woman know that he was there, favoring to just observe the curvaceous woman that was frantically sprawling about in her obvious fear. Glimmering as if they were begging for attention, small sweat drops formed on the woman's brow as she quickly tied together what seemed to be a make-shift rope. The man tore his eyes away from his object of focus, and looked to the open window, quickly gathering the woman's plan in his mind.

Few more moments passed, and the woman through the bed sheet rope out the window, and peered out, her head coming back into the room with a slight smile. _Hope_, he thought. _Well, I suppose it's time to crush that._

"What do we have here?" he let his voice ring out into the room, not to the point where it was booming off of the walls, but to the point where it lingered there, even in the silence that followed.

The girl, whom he had just recently referred to as a _woman_ in his mind a second ago, but because of the way she shrank at his voice he thought it better to call her girl, froze in her position. Shoulders and hands visibly shaking as shadows cascaded down her back, moonlight only illuminating her outline, she turned her head slowly, obviously confused and scared out of her wits.

"When..?" her voice was slow, barely a deep hum in her throat.

"While you were off in your little futile attempt to escape of course." he dropped his voice to match hers, if not a bit lower.

"I wasn't trying t-" she immediately protested his words but was cut off.

"Oh, but you _were_, weren't you?" He took to a sickeningly sweet tone this time, continuing his advance on her that he had stopped earlier.

"No! I _wasn't_!" she tried to protest again, "I wasn't going to leave, I just wanted out of this room!" Her back suddenly hit the wall she hadn't known she was retreating into, and she gasped at the contact, inadvertently giving her pursuer a chance he was been patiently waiting for.

When she had turned her head back around to face Ainsley, quickly over from the shock the wall had given her, she felt a sudden pressure on her mouth as her hands were being grasped and held all too tightly above her head.

"MMFF!" she began writhing under his touch, her body rejecting any form of contact with the man, "_**ST-STOP IT**_!" she screeched in his face, only to have him silence her whilst taking advantage of her now wide open mouth.

Lucy felt his tongue slide into her mouth, the hand that wasn't holding her wrists slowly making its way down her thigh, rubbing away at whatever spot he stopped at. She felt sick, utterly and completely revolted to the point where she was gagging into the man's mouth.

Finding her retching annoying, the man removed his mouth from hers and settled for sucking on her neck in the spot her had marked earlier. He felt the girl's chest heave with air, trying to supply what she had lost when he had captured her mouth. Almost positive that she was going to scream again, he let his hand that was working on her thigh shoot up and cover her mouth, receiving a muffled thing of a yell when he did.

"Are you _sure_ you want to do that girl?" He stopped lapping his tongue over her pale skin to speak, "Because, if you make any noise that I don't _approve_ of," she was sure there was a hidden meaning behind "_approve_", "you're going to force my hand to do something horrible."

Lucy's eyes widened, as she stopped moving, her mouth forming into a tight line. _He's not doing this. He's not. It's not happening. _Her mind began shutting down involuntarily at the thought of what this man was going to do to her. Was she honestly about to be..._...raped_?

Hot tears began running down her face unwillingly, falling off of her face and into the corners of her now slightly plump lips. The last thing she wanted was to look any weaker than she already was in front of him, and tears weren't helping her case. She began blinking the tears back furiously, but it was no use, they continued to fall in spite of herself. It was almost as if the part of her that was still hanging onto hope that she could one day return to Fairy Tail desperately wanted to make herself known to the man. Like that part of her thought he would give in to her request if she begged hard enough. But of course, this man would most likely only laugh in her face.

"Now, behave like a good girl before I get all your _precious_ little friends into a predicament that they wouldn't even **dream** about getting out of." he looked up at Lucy with lustful eyes.

Smirking at her tears, he knew what to say next that would send her over the edge, "**Especially that fire mage**." he practically purred the words into her eyes, drilling them into her consciousness.

And he was right; it was the push that shut her down.

Her eyes became lifeless while the tears she was no longer holding back trailed down her cheeks. Her lips parted the slightest bit, and whispered the mages name that he had referred to in realization.

The hero who had saved her life countless times without a second thought.

The glutton who gave no regard to restraint when it came to food.

The comedian who made her laugh to the point where she couldn't breathe.

The person with whom she shared the pain of a lost parent.

The best friend that was always, always there for her, even when she didn't want it.

The man who she had so easily... fallen in love with.

She would never be seeing him again. And now, the one thing she had hoped to save for him one day was about to be taken away from her.

Lucy could faintly feel her body being led towards the sheet ridden bed through the numbness of her mind.

* * *

Inside the kitchen of Ainsley Jurener's mansion-

Henway sat at the bar of the overly immaculate kitchen, chopping away at some freshly washed vegetables, preparing a meal for the maids of the house. His mind was still reeling at the fact little Lucy had been chosen to marry that sleazy man that he was forced to call his master. It was honestly the last thing he had expected. He'd left the Heartfilia Mansion's service long ago, not expecting to see any of them again, but there she was, grown and forced into a marriage that he had wanted to _prevent_ in the first place.

He sighed and threw the vegetables he had been cutting into a pot of boiling water, adding some salt into the mix when he was done. He then turned back to the bar and gave a blank stare at his ingredients. The maids had told him that little Lucy had been escorted to the Master's room, but he couldn't help but wonder where she was now. It'd already been hours since they arrived at the mansion, and he couldn't help but grow even more wary when Ainsley had come down to dinner alone.

Another sigh escaped his lips as he began to resign himself to his duties when suddenly, he heard a distressed scream.

"**STOP IT!**"

Even though it had come from all the way across the mansion, it was still high pitched and from what he could tell, full of terror. Something was happening to little Lucy.

In an instant, he threw off the apron he _hated_ wearing, and moved his old bones as fast as he could, knowing exactly where the screech had come from. It didn't matter what the repercussions of his actions would be, he just knew he had to get to that room and protect little Lucy. The girl whom he had taken care of for years, from the time she was an infant to when she was eight years old.

He had to protect her, even if she had no memory of him.

The other side of the mansion he had grown to _loathe_ never seemed farther away.

* * *

**A/N: **Well now, that Ainsley sure is a bastard isn't he? Anyway, sorry for the lack of content in this chapter. I've got a shitload of homework that was piled on me over the week and it's staring at me right now like it's going to eat me so, I decided to quickly type something up before I procrastinated...

The next chapter will be longer, and you'll see what Natsu and everyone else is doing.c: Keep the reviews coming! It's great encouragement.

Now then, I'll get back to that pile of work that looks like it's gotten closer to me while I typed.


	8. Chapter 8

Years in the past-

* * *

_"Hey Henway?" an eight year old Lucy giggled at the way her small sentence had just rhymed, as she often did. She was sitting on the marble counter in the mansions kitchen, swinging her bare feet happily as Henway next to her was preparing her and her mother's lunch for the day._

_"Yes Lucy?" he replied to her with a genuine smile on his face, putting the finishing touches on the triangle sandwiches he'd just made._

_"You know," she paused for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face, "you're probably my best friend!" she gave the old man a toothy grin when she had finished contemplating her words, small giggles rumbling in her chest. "Next to mama of course." She quickly added._

_For a moment the old man stood still, thinking about little Lucy's words. To have her say that to him was an honor, but a pity at the same time. The poor girl hardly ever made it out of their estate, what with her mother and father being as esteemed as they were; it was a hard thing for them to go anywhere where they could have a moment's piece as a family. And so in result, the little girl swinging her legs happily in front of him without a care in the world, scarcely had any friends her own age._

_He put the sandwiches into a small brown basket, and set it aside, turning to look at Lucy, "Are you sure you'd like an old geezer like me as a best friend?" he jokingly stated as he took a seat on a stool next to her._

_A small pout crossed Lucy's face; "Of course I would!" she crossed her arms. "You always play card games with me, make me food when I'm hungry, you never get mad at me, you make me laugh, I really like your beard," she stopped at tugged at the end of his facial hair teasingly, "and you always make time for me."_

_She brought her hands back to her lap and stared at them with a now slightly sullen look in her eyes, "Whenever mama and papa are too busy to play with me, you're always there to make sure I'm not lonely! So why wouldn't you be my best friend?" she quickly wiped the sad look off of her face, and took to a cheery one, "Can I be your best friend too?!" a gleam shown in her eyes as she asked this._

_Henway chuckled heartily, and wrapped his arms around the small girls' shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze before he let her go, "Of course. You've been my friend for a long time now."_

_"Really?!" Lucy asked as she bounced up and down, "You promise?" She held out her pinky, indicating that he needed to do the same._

_It was a common occurrence between the two. Lucy had been terribly fond of making promises ever since the day Henway had taught her what a "pinky promise" was. He smiled and held out his own pinky, the difference in size was a good amount._

_"I promise."_

_"Yay! I've got to go tell mama!" She beamed and almost blinded him with the sincerity written on her features._

_She hopped down from her spot on the counter, and began to dash off when Henway stopped her, "Don't forget your lunch!" he got up and met Lucy halfway, "It wouldn't be much of a picnic without the food, right?" he gave her a wink._

_"Hehe," she rubbed the back of her head and let a sheepish smile cross her face, "you're right."_

_Grasping the basket's handle tightly, she ran off again waving back to her newly appointed best friend, "See you later Henway!"_

_"See you later Lucy!" he replied to her with a grin._

* * *

He sprinted throughout the corridors of Ainsley's residence, turning sharp corners, and whipping his head around to make sure he was in the right hall. Unfortunately in all the time he'd resided there, he still hadn't gotten the hang of the mansions lay out, it all looked the same to his old eyes. The damn house was a like a maze.

Minutes passed, and he was nearing the room he had set out for, growing more and more anxious by the second. His fury was rising to a new peak as his mind dared to imagine what poor Lucy was going through, making his stomach drop at the mere thought of it.

She didn't deserve this, the marriage she was being forced to go through. He had seen through it back then and he still saw through it now. If only Jude had just _listened_ to him…

Shuddering out of his old memories, he skidded to a stop in front of his "_master's_" room, scowling at the gaudy carving of his name into the door. He leaned in closer to it, and quieted his breathing, listening for any sound that would prompt him to rush in.

And what he did hear make him want to throw up his dinner.

A small whimper; a whimper so small that you would've thought it belonged to a puppy who'd just been kicked by its owner, or had just been separated from its mother.

His hand reached for the knob and quickly turned, only to find that it had been locked. Without a moment's hesitation, he gathered all the strength his old body could muster, took in a deep breath, and quickly kicked the door in, breaking the lock in the process.

His fears were instantly confirmed when his eyes fell upon the pair that was currently occupying the bed, and it felt like his heart had shattered.

Lucy, who was underneath the bastard, was lifeless. Her eyes were dull; none of the liveliness he had missed over the years was showing. Her clothing had been discarded, strewn across the room, leaving her in nothing but her undergarments. Bruises were already forming on her arms and legs, puffing in an ugly purple color. Her mouth, from what he could see had been ravished, bruises also forming around the area. And her tears, that was what had made him snap.

"**Ainsley!**" he shouted at the pitiful excuse for a man that had stopped his pursuit when Henway kicked the door in.

"Who are you to steal a young woman's innocence before her wedding night?!" Though he had greatly _loathed_ the idea of Lucy marrying this man, he couldn't let his intentions be known yet. Not if he was to help her find a way out of this hell.

Ainsley gave a small smirk and narrowed his eyes before lifting himself off of the still unmoving Lucy, "Am I not allowed the _joy_ of playing with my toys?"

Henway fumed and made his way over to the bed, quickly picking up a sheet that was laid on the floor before he made his way to Lucy, "She is your future wife. **Not **a toy for you to play with."

"Whatever." Ainsley got up straitened his shirt and began walking off, heading out the door, "You ruined the mood anyhow." And that was it. Without even a second glance back at the woman he had surely already scarred, he left.

Henway looked back to Lucy, and his heart ached once again. Gently, he took hold of her wrist, grimacing when she flinched at his touch, and wrapped the sheet he had grabbed earlier around her bare shoulders. Her eyes blinked in realization when the sheet touched her body, and she gazed up at the still grimacing Henway in confusion, oblivious to the tears that her eyes were still shedding.

"Come on. I'll help you to your room." It wasn't what he really wanted to say, but it was a start.

He pulled her off of the bed and wrapped his right arm around her shoulder, helping her support herself as she walked. They made it out of the bedroom and into the hall when he started hearing gasps from the maids that were currently cleaning out one of the other rooms.

Lucy's body began to shake with silent sobs as she realized this unwanted attention, and it urged Henway to get her to her room faster.

"Where is 's room?" he quickly asked one of the maids in a swift breath.

"W-well," the maid gave a guilty look, "she was intended to stay in the Master's bedroom, but we can give her one of the spare rooms."

"Thank you." He left the maids in their confusion and made for the other side of the house, knowing Lucy wouldn't want to be anywhere near where she had just been assaulted.

Walking in silence, he waited until they were a good distance from the bustle of the house to pick a door and enter. He ushered her inside of the room and was slightly relieved when he saw the he had actually picked a bedroom, and not a supply closet.

Lucy walked herself into the room while Henway looked back into the hallway to make sure no one was lingering around and slowly shut the door, taking a deep breath before turning back to Lucy who was now sitting in the middle of the bed hugging the sheet's to her body, her knuckles turning white.

"Ms. Hearfilia..." he addressed her formally, still not sure if she remembered him or not, the years hadn't been kind to him after all.

"Who _are_ you?" Lucy's asked the question he'd been waiting for, her voice still thick with emotions she couldn't, or better worded, _wouldn't_ process.

He sighed and pulled a chair that was sitting in the corner of the room over to the end of her bed, taking a seat in front of her. "I used to be one of your best friends you know." He gave way to a small smile at the memory, keeping his gaze on his hands, "Next to your mother of course." He mimicked the words she had said all those years ago, hoping it would spark at least the tiniest memory in her mind.

Confusion instantly spread through her face at the mention of this man being her best friend and at the mention of her mother. What did this old man know about her, and her mother? And best friend, what was that supposed to mean?

"What are you getting at?" she asked, keeping her mind in a cold distant place for the moment. She wasn't about to unleash the worst of her emotions in the presence of a man she hardly knew.

Another sigh came from the old man, and he spoke once more, deciding to drop the act her had been playing around her, "I'm not your enemy Lucy. I won't hurt you." He looked up to the girl and smiled, holding his pinky out to her, "Pinky promise."

And then it clicked in her mind.

Her mouth gave way to a gasp as the memories began flooding her mind. The promises, the snacks, the games, and the friendship, it was all coming back. Tears instantly welled in her eyes as she remembered that she had _indeed_ called this old man her best friend once.

"H-hen-" she choked as she began to say his name. She reached out with her hand and stuck out her pinky, the difference in size not all that different anymore, "_Henway_?"

"Ah," he chuckled, his aged voice now a comforting sound to Lucy, "It seems you remember now. I guess it wasn't all that surprising that you had forgotten. It must've been hard for you to hold onto all those memories after your mothers passing."

Their pinkies wrapped around each other as Lucy accepted his promise. "Hey…Henway…" she tried saying her catch phrase for him, but it wasn't having the same affect. No giggles could be heard from her mouth as she spoke, only small fearful sobs that shook her small frame.

"Yes Lucy?" his voice matched hers, emotion running strongly within them both.

"I….I'm…I'm.." she couldn't find the right words to say. Scared? Violated? Terrified? Angry? Sad? Confused? Regretful? They were all the right words, but she couldn't bring herself to say it, for fear that what had just happened to her would finally hit home and become reality.

"You don't need to say anything." Henway cut through her frenzy of thoughts and moved to sit at the edge of her bed, patting the spot next to him much like he did when she was a child.

Slowly, she made her way to next to him and leaned into the embrace when he wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders. It was almost a fatherly atmosphere that Henway gave off, and that made her crying even worse.

She let herself go, all of it. Every pent up emotion that she had been holding inside of herself up until then, it was all being laid out on the table. Tears were shed for her mother and father, for her family that she had recently left behind, for the way she had felt useless sometimes during old missions, for the way she had just been assaulted by someone who didn't even deserve to be called a human, for Nastu, and for her long lost friend Henway.

Her sobs grew at an alarming rate, and Henway feared that her lungs wouldn't be able to take much more. Lucy was throwing herself headlong into a full on state of hysteria, _willingly_ it seemed. Her eyes were squeezing themselves shut, hoping that if she couldn't see anything, the no one would be able to see her either. Her chest was heaving, and her lungs were pleading for a normal breathing pace. She fisted her hair in anxiety, and she unconsciously brought her knees up to her chest, rocking herself back and forth.

Henway immediately took notice of this and knew he had to calm her and her heart rate down. He moved to the floor, and sat on his knees, he face level with Lucy's. His hands reached up and took either side of her face, forcing her to look at him.

"Lucy." He began searching her eyes, trying to ignore her screaming, "Lucy look at me."

Once he gained her attention, he spoke again, "Lucy, you need to calm down. I understand that you're hurting, but you can't lose your grip on sanity. You're a _strong_ girl. You always were and always will be. I'll get you out of this. Nod if you understand me."

He kept his grip on her head and she nodded slowly, her screams stopping but her tears still rolling on. He held out his pinky once more, "I promise you I'll find you a way out of this."

With a shaky hand, and sobs still racking her body, she held her pinky out just as he did, accepting yet another one of his promises.

"Good." He stood up and place one hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair just a bit. "You should try and get some sleep. Despite what I just said, I'll still have to think of something, and unfortunately until I do you're going to have to go along with what's planned for you."

Lucy nodded in recognition, and scooted her body back to the middle of the bed. She laid her head down on one of the pillows, and tugged on the blankets to cover her, urging her body to get some rest.

Henway walked back over to his chair, and pulled it to the other side of the bed where Lucy was laying, "I'll stay here, so you don't have to worry about anything else. Just get some rest."

With another nod, she shut her eyes, calmly this time and no longer trying to escape from the world. Though she was still thoroughly shaken, a faint spark of hope flickered inside of the determined part of her than had gone dull in the short amount of time she'd been in that mansion.

She lifted up her right hand and stared at the pink Fairy Tail insignia that she still bared, and it was enough, _for now_ at least.

She wouldn't give up.

* * *

Back to the present time-

* * *

The sun shone brightly overhead, as the rescue team stepped off of the train. Natsu quickly got over his motion sickness, and stretched as he took in the country side that hugged the outskirts of Crocus. It was half past noon, the train ride had taken longer than expected and the wedding was going to begin in two hours.

He ran a hand through his slicked back hair, and look to his friends on either side of him. Erza, Gray, Wendy, Charle, Gajeel, Lily, Levy and Happy all nodded in determination as they set off down the stone road, Natsu leading from the front.

A sudden wind picked up and Natsu got a fairly good whiff of the scent that belonged to the girl he wanted to see most. Though the scent was faint and about a day old, it still hit him like a ton of bricks. His head immediately looked in the direction the scent leaded and it took all of his self-control not to follow it to Lucy.

"What is it Natsu?" Erza questioned noticing Natsu had stopped moving.

"He's picked up bunny girls scent." Gajeel stated, also smelling her scent in the air.

"Yes," Wendy chimed in with her bird like voice, "Lucy is definitely here in Crocus."

Natsu's fist clenched when he heard Wendy speak Lucy's name, every instinct in his body was yelling at him to follow the scent and get what he wanted. That is until a hand firmly gripped his shoulder.

"I understand that you want to follow it, but there's no telling where it will lead and you're going to be needed when the wedding starts." Erza reminded him, "Gajeel, Levy and Wendy will take care of scoping that out like we planned."

She turned the three of them, and the Exceeds that would be accompanying them and gave a hard nod.

"We'll part way's here; you six will follow that scent and report back via the lacrima I gave you. Understood?"

They all responded with a nod, and took of down the road, Gajeel leading the small group towards the source of the scent.

"You'd _better_ make sure she's alright, iron face!" Natsu couldn't help but yell out to them as they took off, his want and need to go with them stronger than ever.

"We'll handle it Natsu!" Levy called back to him when Gajeel had muttered something unintelligible, and Happy responded with a determined "Aye!"

"Come on Natsu," Gray elbowed his arm, bringing him out of his thoughts "we'll be seeing her soon enough."

He looked back to his two teammates who were both giving him a reassuring smile. _Damn, I must look really bad if they feel the need to cheer me up…_

"Alright!" Erza yelled and began walking to the location of the wedding, "Let's not waste any more time." Natsu and Gray joined her in her walk, falling in step with her fast pace treading.

_Alright Lucy_, Natsu began thinking to himself yet again_, I don't care if you want me to come or not. I'm going to find you either way and repay you for the train station. _He had gotten all of his feeling in check, and they were rearing to go. Eager to let Lucy know what he felt. His face gave a slight smirk before turning into his signature determined look, making Gray and Erza sigh with relief to themselves.

Something was wrong with Lucy, and he was going to find out what made her leave, one way or another.

* * *

**A/N:** I love Henway. He reminds me of my grandpa... _Anyway_, thanks for the reviews! I'll have another update for your fiction reading needs soon c:


	9. Chapter 9

Lucy awoke with sore eyes, and a shivering body. She sat up in the foreign, large bed she had slept on the night before, and rubbed her temples before finally cracking open her eyes. Her irises swept the room, wincing slightly at the sunlight that was spilling from the curtains, and she found Henway still sitting in his chair.

Her body relaxed a bit when she saw the old man asleep and snoring lightly. He had been much like she remembered him. He still had the beard, though it was mostly white now, the bushy eyebrows, the round glasses rimmed with a gold finish, and as she had smelt last night he was still a smoker.

_He really should've quit that by now,_ she shook her head.

The clock in the left corner of the room said it was already nine in the morning, and she wondered idly why no one had come to wake her up yet. Apparently she'd gotten eleven hours of sleep if she remembered correctly. It had only been around eight in the even when all that chaos had occurred.

She shivered inwardly.

Last night was definitely something she _didn't_ want to remember. Lucy had felt it was almost certain that he was going to take her. The way he touched her body, the way he was violating her neck; it most definitely would've happened if Henway hadn't intervened.

Thinking of her old friend again, she turned her head back to him, wondering if she should wake him up or not. She begun to untangle herself from the warm sheet when she noticed of attire, or lack thereof. Quickly, she snatched them back up wrapped them around her torso, thankful that Henway hadn't been awake yet.

She scrambled off of the bed and went to the nearest wardrobe, there being three in the room to choose from and took a peek inside. Thankfully there had been an off-white, lengthy nightdress, much like the ones she used to wear, hanging by itself in the dark.

Swiftly, she slipped it one and turned back to Henway who had shifted the slightest bit in his chair. She walked over to him, her chilled feet meeting softly with the thick dark blue carpet with each step. It was honestly a shame to wake him, he looked so comfortable despite the fact he was in a chair, but she needed to know what was going to happen today. It was important to know if she was actually going to have to marry that ruthless bastard.

She brought a pale hand to his beard, and tugged it gently, having remembered exactly how to wake him up.

"Wha-What?!" Henway stumbled over his words and he blinked himself awake.

"What happened?" he swiveled his head around, "Did I fall asleep?"

Lucy gave a silent, nostalgic giggle. Even his reaction was the same.

"Yeah, you did." She sat on the bed in front of him, "It's not like I'll blame you for that though. You were always a sucker for sleeping whenever you could."

He gave a sheepish smile, "Well, I had to shoo some maids away around seven this morning, and I was planning on staying awake until you had woken up but…."

A brief silence passed between them, Lucy looking down at her Fairy Tail sign, and Henway staring at the seemingly interesting curtains.

She gave a small sigh, and opened her mouth to speak again, "Thank you."

He only gave way to a small nod in response, so Lucy kept going.

"Really, if you hadn't shown up when you did, I would probably much worse off than I am now…"

"You don't need to thank me." He responded fatly.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at Henway's sudden demeanor. He back had become stiff and fists were clenched; these actions not being something normal for the old man.

"_No_," Lucy responded a stubbornly, "I _do_ need to thank you. You helped me get away from him. How is that not cause enough for a thank you?"

Henway just shook his head and brought his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. Of course she wouldn't understand. If it weren't for him and his failed actions all those years ago, none of this would've even happened to her.

"It's just not necessary. I'd have done it any day, and especially since I'm partly responsible for your predicament, of course I would help you by all means."

Lucy was taken aback by his words. _What does he mean partly responsible? What does he have to do with any of this?_

"What are you talking about?" she inquired at his statement.

He turned his head and stared at her for a second, a strange expression crossing his face. Almost as if he was trying to decide on something.

"_Well?_" she asked again, very curious now as to what he meant.

Henway turned his eyes back to the curtain, took a deep breath, and was about to answer before a maid hustled into the room ungracefully.

"I'm sorry Miss Heartfilia, but we simply _must_ prepare you for the day now. You're to be wed in an hour and a half and we haven't even begun to start getting your things together!"

The slender maid of around forty years she guessed crossed the room and grabbed her lightly around the wrist, Lucy flinching involuntarily at her touch. Immediately, she ripped her hand from the lady's grasp, and looked back to her old friend.

"Henway?" she shivered at her own voice. It had taken a fearsome tone, reverting her back into a little girl that couldn't do anything for herself.

He grimaced inwardly.

During the night, he had come up with a few ways to get her out of this mess, but unfortunately they were all long shots, and involved her having to wed his "master". While, he had desperately wished she wouldn't have to go through it, there was just no way she could get away without doing so.

A few days prior, he had been able to get a glimpse at the weddings schedule. Of course the first thing that would occur was the wedding. Then, after the bride and groom were to separate for a time, preparing themselves for their honeymoon; this is what Henway would make use of. During the time she was supposed to "preparing", he would ready a separate carriage for her, with him as the driver of course and he would safely get her away from that wretched house.

It was a simple plan, and not very likely to succeed, but he would try it nonetheless.

"Goodness dear!" the maid was offended at the way Lucy had reacted to her, "I don't bite!"

No, Lucy thought bitterly, but someone else does.

"Come now! We have to get a move one!" the maid went to grab Lucy again, but Henway spoke, interrupting her actions.

"Give us a minute Susan. I'll send the miss on her way in just a minute." He gave her a plain look, and after a few seconds on deliberating, she huffed her way out of the room.

"Right." Henway nodded to himself, and stood up, "Now, listen carefully Lucy. You're going to have to go through with the marriage."

She made a face.

"I know, I know," he eased her a bit, "you don't like it, but it'll have to be done if you want to get out of here."

Lucy gave a sigh. It's not like I was prepared for anything else when I came here….

"So what do you have in mind?"

He nodded again, and began pacing the small pace in front of him, "I was able to look at the wedding's schedule, and found a spot where I can sneak you out." He breathed, "After the actual wedding, you'll be on your own for about thirty minutes to get your things together for your honeymoon." This time he made a face. "During this time, I'll get a separate carriage ready for you; we'll board it and be on our way."

"How will that work?" Lucy voiced her doubt, "He'll only think I ran back home! My friends won't be able to handle what'll be thrown at them when he finds out I'm gone!"

She hated talking about their friends in this way. She knew that they were strong, and could overcome any battle they faced, but she didn't know if it was the same when it came to the law. Jurener could easily come up with some charges that would put all of them away for life, and bribe the judges to bend to his will. They wouldn't have any proper defense or chance at all.

Henway shook his head in disagreement, "He won't think you've gone back home. I know this for a fact. He may be a sick person, but I have to admit he's not stupid. I think he knows that you wouldn't risk going back to your home. Your friends mean much to you. If anything, he'll think you ran away to some unknown place, far from him and your friends."

Now she understood what he was getting at, and it meant not seeing everyone she loved again.

"So," she blinked back her tears, "I'll really have to run? I'll never be able to come back?"

"I don't know about that." He gave her a soft smile, hopeful to reassure her, "It may take some time, but I do believe you will be able to see Magnolia once again. The fire will have to calm before you can walk through it."

She flinched at the word fire. Memories of him flooded through her mind for the millionth time since she had been gone, and she wondered idly if it would always hurt this badly.

"Ok." She balled her fists and looked up to Henway, "I'll go."

"And rightly so." He ruffled the top of her hair.

"What about you though?" a new worry popped up into her mind, "He'll see that you've went missing too and know that you had something to do with my disappearance."

"You don't need to worry about that. I've never like this wretched place in all the time I've been here and I'm sure that he knows that by now. It won't be too surprising to him that I would leave."

"Oh." was all she could say in response.

"Now, I think it's best if we get going." He stated as she glanced at the clock, "I won't be attending the wedding. As soon as the maids take you, I'll get the carriage, and hide in the garden behind the house. After that, I'll retrieve your keys."

"Oh yeah!" She had almost forgotten about them, "Thanks for that."

"It's no problem," he held his arm out, and Lucy wrapped hers around his, "let's begin shall we?"

She sucked in a deep breath, and locked away her fear from the past night, "Yeah."

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry it's short. I needed to get something out before I procrastinated and this was the result.c: And thanks for the comments about about my grandpa. It means a lot. He's been gone for quite a while now, but it's all good. Most of Henway's actions are actually based off of him, so I'm glad you like his character! I'll update soon.c:


	10. Chapter 10

Natsu was one hundred percent sure that he hated this crowd. The stares were one thing, he could handle those. I mean, it wasn't like he didn't get stares when he ate fire around civilians, so that was something he was used to. The way they avoided him, that was a bit different, though it's not like it bothered him. A guy with rosy hair was bound to be avoided by people who thought it was some sort of mutation. But the one thing that bothered him was what they were saying.

With his hearing that was way too advanced for his own good at the moment, he heard every single word the stuck up, filthy rich people were whispering, and they were all about Lucy.

Things like, "That girl won't be good enough for the Young Master. Her family's money went dry years ago!" One obviously jealous girl said.

Something else like, "I heard she comes from a severely broken home. Her mother died, she ran away from home, and her father whom she had disowned died earlier this year! The Young Master doesn't need someone with that kind of baggage!" This time it was a middle aged woman, who was dressed far too scantily for her age spoke.

And the men. _Oh_, the men of this crowd were practically **_begging _**Natsu to send their asses flying into the atmosphere. Pigs, they were. Saying that Lucy was "one fine piece of ass", or "she sure grew up to be quite the pleasurable thing".

**Fuck. No.** Natsu couldn't even begin to fathom their logic behind those words. What did they even know about her? _Nothing_. There wasn't enough time in the world for him to start listing the ways in which Lucy was much, much more than some "fine piece of ass".

It was beyond him how people could assume they know everything about a girl they've never met, or objectify her based on her body type. Sure, he could agree that Lucy had an amazing figure, one that he'd find his eyes roaming on from time to time, but did they know _why_ she had that figure? Did they know how hard she would work to muscle herself up some when she felt insecure about her worth in battle?

And those women, they didn't know anything either. They didn't know that Lucy had made peace with her father. They didn't know just how much emotional pain she had gone through in her life, or how she had _overcome_ that pain. They didn't know how she had left that "baggage" behind her a long time ago in exchange for a life of happiness with her new family.

A happiness that was being stalled at the present time by two bastards that went by the name "Jurener".

And that brought him back down to reality.

He growled under his breath as he leaned against a gate, Gray and Erza on either side of him. They had finally managed to gain entrance to the damn place after half an hour. The reason for it taking so long was that there was actually a _line_ to get in. It was a mixture of people who were invited, and people who weren't. Erza had managed to swipe an invitation from a random man who was waiting in the line next to them. The guy didn't even notice that it had gone missing when it was his turn to enter.

The wedding was to be held outside in a large flower covered garden, green hedges lining the space in which it would take place. White non-foldable chairs were placed evenly throughout the space, forming an aisle down the middle.

_An aisle Lucy would be forced to walk down_, Natsu thought angrily.

And in the front of it all, was an extravagant gazebo for the bride and groom to stand under. It's wood was colored a deep auburn, with swirls and flowers etched into it lining all the sides. Garland made of multiple different flowers, which Natsu didn't care enough to name, was hanging down from its roof, framing the whole structure.

If they wanted Natsu's opinion, it was one pansy-ass looking wedding.

"When does this damn thing start?" he huffed out in annoyance to Erza, as the crowd's words were once again reaching his ears.

The redhead looked down to her watch and shook her head, "Not for another hour and a half."

Natsu balled his fists and turned to leave the garden at the woman's words.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gray and Erza voiced their question at the same time.

"You need to be here when it all starts." She reminded him.

"If I have to listen to these people for another second, I swear I'm going to fry some of them."

And with that he walked off, Gray tried to stop him again, but Erza interfered, just shaking her head and allowing Natsu to leave.

"I'll be back in a minute. Just let me cool off."

He opened the gate that had been closed off to the public, keeping the uninvited loiters out of the garden, and began wandering around. His loafer covered feet kicked up the gravel as he went over the plan in his head for the millionth time.

Erza had instructed when Lucy began walking down the aisle, she would cast a sleeping spell much like the one Mystogan had always used when he would come into the guild to grab a job. Natsu had questioned this part, wondering how Erza could cast a spell she didn't know, and she responded with saying the she had learned it in the past, saying that it came in handy at times.

Natsu had shrugged it off, not wanting to know what Erza would use that for and she went on.

Once the spell was cast, and everyone in the crowd, including Lucy and the groom, was unconscious, they would quickly grab Lucy and take her to safe location. Once that was done, Natsu would stay with Lucy and wait for her to wake up, as he was the one who said this, and Erza and Gray would contact the group that had followed Lucy's scent. Erza had bet that Lucy would have been kept at the groom's house, and the legal papers for the wedding, the contract that was binding Lucy, would be in there somewhere.

To Erza it was simple. All they needed to do was get to those papers and destroy them; leaving Lucy no longer bound to them by any contract, or legal manners. The house would most likely be scarce of people, in result of the wedding, and if there were people there, they would deal with it accordingly.

It was a reckless plan no doubt, and one that only had a fifty percent chance of working, but this situation, despite what others thought, called for a bit of recklessness. Their one goal for the day was to free Lucy, and whatever came after that was something to think about later.

Natsu had reluctantly accepted the fact that he wouldn't be able to beat the shit out of either of the Jureners. Though, Natsu grinned evilly, the groom would definitely _not_ wake up without some scorched hair, clothes, and other parts.

Eventually he found bench lining yet another man-made hedge, and sat himself down, running a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes and his thoughts drifted off to that one girl his mind refused to stop thinking about.

God, when did he become so _cheesy_?

* * *

Henway walked swiftly and with purpose throughout the brightly lit corridors of the mansion, thankful that practically everyone was out of the house. All of the maids had been in charge of preparing the décor and seating arrangements of the garden, and all of the butlers, except him of course, were to be ushering the guests, and preparing the food.

He neared the back doors of the mansion, and sprinted for the stables when he was outside. Betsy, the horse he had been using in the time he had stayed there, was his first choice in aid for his plan. She was fast, bigger than most horses, and had an unnatural amount of stamina, not to mention he had grown incredibly fond of her antics. So, he figured if any of these horses were to help him save Lucy, it would be her. He gathered his saddle and reigns, and dressed Betsy climbing atop of her, making way for unnecessarily large warehouse where the carriages were kept.

About two minutes into his ride, he saw the most _unusual_ sight.

A few yards away, there was a group made up of the most ill-fitting people and, were those _cats_?- he had ever seen. Seven figures stalked along the large fence, three on the ground and three floating in the air. He couldn't help but gawk at the sight.

There was one very tall, muscular man, two tiny girls, although one could tell there was an age difference, and three floating cats, colored blue, white, and black. Like he thought before, it was the oddest pairing of people he had ever seen. He was about to go on his way, not having the time to deal with intruders at the moment, when he noticed a familiar symbol.

"Yah!" his old voice called out to Betsy underneath him, and she began running towards the group with a kick off the ground. If what he saw was correct, he had either gotten very, _very_ lucky, or he had another obstacle in his way.

As he began nearing the group, he noticed that two of them had already taken note of his presence and begun to urge the others to run with their hands, pointing to him with urgent looks. Eventually, all the other heads that hadn't seen him turned to look and began panicking. The two girls scrambled about, and the blue cat had a priceless expression on his face.

The man, who knew that Henway was nearing with every second, ran an exasperated hand through his long hair, and took up a fighting stance. At this, the older blue haired girl began tugging on the man's arm, urging him to run with them instead of fight, he guessed.

Just as they were about to disappear into the estate of mansion, Henway called out to them, "Wait!"

They still didn't stop.

"Wait a moment! Are you Lucy's friends?!" he tried again, hoping they would react to the blonde's name.

This time they stopped.

Henway smiled inwardly, and finally approached the group close enough to make sure he had seen what he thought the saw. It was evident on each of their bodies, much like it was on Lucy's hand; the Fairy Tail sign.

"Don't take a step closer old man." The tall one threatened while standing particularly close to the older girl of the group.

"I don't mean any harm, I can assure you that. Nor do I think I would be able to inflict any kind of harm on you. But I'd like you to answer my question." He paused and took in all of their expressions; confusion.

"Are you Lucy Heartfilia's friends?" he asked them once more.

"How do you know Lu-chan?" the older girl asked, a defensive tone could be heard in her voice.

_Ah, so I was right after all,_ he thought and thanked the stars that he had caught them.

"It's a rather long story, and I don't have the time for it I'm afraid." He stated and looked to his watch, "What I can tell you, is that I'm in the middle of preparing an escape for her."

"_What_?_!_" the group chimed in unison.

"Just who are you?" the girl spoke again, "We were under the impression that everyone here was working for the Jureners. And obviously," she crossed her arms, "they want Lu-chan to marry that stranger, not let her escape."

Betsy neighed, growing impatient of standing there and Henway's urgency rose, "As of today I am no longer working for the Jureners. They're a sick lot that only cares about money, possessions, and publicity." He breathed, wanting to have said that out loud a long time ago, "I've known Lucy for a number of years, and have her trust, so please," he glanced to their faces, "I would appreciate your help in this."

The group stilled, unsure of what their next move would be. This was the last thing they had expected to happen. They were supposed to scout out the place, make sure Lucy was actually still here, report back to the others, and then find a place to hide and wait for the arrival of Erza and Gray. Not anywhere in that plan had they assumed they would come across an old guy dressed in a worn-looking butler suit asking for their help to rescue Lucy.

"What do we do?" Wendy whispered in Levy's ear, just as confused as the rest of them.

"I…" she paused and looked back at the man, "How can we even trust you? You're a complete stranger to us." she concluded.

"As you lot are to me." He retorted and looked at his watch again, the time seemingly going by faster and faster.

"We'll follow you, but no promises geezer." Gajeel, who had gone completely quiet, broke the silence.

Levy whipped her had around to face him and gave him an incredulous look. "Are you sure?!" she questioned him. He was not one to lightly trust someone; she knew that well, so what caused him to believe this old man?

"He's got some of bunny girl's scent on his arm and I can tell that it isn't that old." He sniffed the air again, "I'd say he left her around eight minutes ago."

With a desperate curiosity in her eyes, Levy turned back to Henway, "You've been with Lu-chan?! How is she?! Is she hurt?! She's okay, right?"

He grimaced at her questions, last night's incident popping back into his head. Sure, Lucy had put on a brave face when they parted ways, but he knew she wasn't any better than she had been the night before. He could tell that she was dreaded with every fiber of her being of seeing that man again. And the fact that she would have to go through with the wedding didn't help her in any way.

Henway let loose a strained sigh, rubbing his temples in the process.

"W-what?" Levy asked, a fresh wave of worry washing over her.

"I can't say that she's okay…." He confessed and flinched inwardly at the faces the two blue haired girls and the blue cat made, "but I can say that she's not defeated either. Her emotional battle is her own, but from the way she agreed to go along with my plan to help her convinced me that she still has some determination left."

"What happened to Lucy?!" the blue cat voiced this time, his furry features were contorted with sadness, confusion and anger.

Henway looked to the ground, "It's not my place to say, and if you all are Lucy's friends, I'm sorry but it'd be best not to pry into it any further."

Silence spread after he spoke, and he knew that time was growing short, "Now are you willing to help me?"

Their faces began to change yet again, but this time it was a look of courage and something else he couldn't quite place his finger on. He guessed it was something that belonged solely to them, the members of Fairy Tail.

"Of course! We'll do anything to help Lu-chan!" The older girl replied.

"Levy's right! We came here to save her in the first place!" the blue cat chimed in.

After those two spoke, all the others agreed, speaking "yeahs!" and "let's go!"

_What a rowdy group of people_, Henway thought. _Though, I can imagine why Lucy would care so deeply for them. They seem to be people of great cheer and strength. She chose her company well._

"Alright." Henway nudged Betsy to turn around, "Let me tell you what I have planned."

He instructed them to gather around, and he quickly breathed out his plans, exchanging names with everyone afterwards. He had left out the fact that Lucy would most likely still have to leave them in the end, and knew that it probably wasn't the smartest decision, but he just didn't have time to argue. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. The one thing he knew for sure was that they wouldn't be able to know where Lucy was going when it came time to leave. It would be too dangerous for them if they knew. Ainsley wasn't one to let his "toys" go so easily and if he thought that Fairy Tail knew where she had run off to, he would stop at nothing to make sure of it.

Once he knew that they didn't know, which they _wouldn't_, that's when he would begin his real search. _And that_, Henway thought, _is where my job begins._

He finished explaining and told the group to go to the warehouse in his place. They were to get the carriage set up in a specific location, near the very end of the Jurener's estate, and wait there. Of course, they'd contact whoever else was in their rescue group, tell them what had occurred, and hope that they would be on board as well.

Now that that was going to be taken care of, Henway told the group that he had to retrieve Lucy's keys as a promise to her. Luckily he knew exactly where they were being kept, and he informed the group that it wouldn't be long until he joined them again before he rode off towards the mansion.

Henway knew he hadn't completely won their trust, and he didn't blame them either. Who would automatically trust a stranger they had just met? (He thought without the knowledge that that was exactly how Lucy had become friends with Natsu.) It was plausible for them to still be wary of him, but he could only hope that they wouldn't abandon the job he gave them. And if that did happen, he reassured himself on the thought that he would be able to do it fairly quickly anyhow.

He glanced back to the group once more, before disappearing behind another hedge wall. Unbeknownst to him that something would be lying in wait for him when he reached the mansion.

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Levy question Gajeel as they walked towards the warehouse, "I mean, how do we know this isn't a trap?"

"We don't." He replied simply.

The girl gave was to a sigh as she crossed her small arms, "Typical."

"Well it's the truth ain't it?" he clenched his fist and grinned his usual grin, signaling he was rearing to go for a fight, "It doesn't matter anyway. If anything comes up for a fight I'll take care of it."

"It'll be alright Levy-san." Wendy reached up and put a hand on her shoulder, "We can take care of any obstacles."

"Yeah, what the shrimp said." Gajeel spoke again tugged on her cheek, stretching it to get the frown she wore off of her face.

"Ow ow OW! Alright already!" Levy yelled and rubbed the spot he was pinching when he let go, "Let's just hurry up then. I want to get this over with so we can see Lu-chan already."

"Well then let's pick up the pace squirt." He said and then began jogging, "Try not to fall behind!"

"Gajeel, I don't think it's very good of you to tease so much." Lily reprimanded him as he floated near his head.

"Ah whatever." He huffed, "Not like I'm doing any harm."

"Please, let's just hurry." Happy spoke up having gone eerily quiet after the encounter with Henway. He didn't have a good feeling about what the old man had said about Lucy. What did he mean when he said he couldn't say that Lucy was ok? Lucy was _always_ supposed to be ok, at least in _his _mind. She was supposed to be the one that spoiled him sometimes with extra fish, and nice rubbings. She was supposed to be the one who would smile all the time, and when she got angry turn into scary Lucy.

She was supposed to be _Lucy_. And it scared him to know that she wasn't at least "_okay_".

Though, he thought, it was probably a good thing that Natsu wasn't with them. Happy knew for a fact that if he had heard what they did, Natsu would've beaten it out of the old man, or immediately run after Lucy's scent.

He sighed, and decided that worrying was the wrong thing to do at this point. He would focus all of his energy on Lucy and getting her back, for all their sakes.

He only wanted their small family of three back together again.

* * *

**A/N: **Whoo! I finally gave you all a long chapter. Well, long for me anyway. Sorry for no Lucy in this one, it'll be more Lucy-centric in the next chapter.

Were you guys expecting Henway to run into Gajeel and Co.? Let me know what you think! And thanks for the reviews. You'll read more of Natsu, Erza and Gray in the next chapter. Until then.c:


	11. Chapter 11

After a long hour of dressing, fitting, make-up, and awkward silences, the maids who all had a look of utter confusion plastered on their faces finally left Lucy to wait in her dressing room. It was large, more like a bedroom if you asked her, but they had insisted on calling it a "dressing room", with no windows, one door, and multiple mirrors with curtains over them placed on its for deep red colored walls.

Lucy sighed and clutched her hands together, knuckles forming a familiar white color as she looked to the clock on the wall.

_Only thirty minutes left_, she thought with a feeling of nausea washing over her.

Yes, she was nauseous. Disgusted. Dreadful. Terrified. Confused. But who wouldn't be? She was about to marry a man who had forced her out of her home, and almost raped her for God's sake; that and the fact that the dress she was wearing was literally keeping her from breathing normally wasn't helping either.

It was a white sleeveless dress, and intricate in all the definitions of the word. The neckline was cut low enough to give an "acceptable" view of her cleavage, and across the fitted waist danced white roses made of a different fabric. The bottom half, unlike the top, was a sea of lace patterned ruffles that completely hid her heel red heel covered feet. With any movement she made it would sway just enough to make it look like it had a mind if its own.

It was undeniably beautiful and she _hated_ it.

Her face on the other hand was done simply, and quickly. Her cheeks were stained with a light pink shade, and her lips were colored in a matted bold red. The eyes were done simply as well. Mascara had been coated over her already thick lashes, and a thin black line was drawn just above them. To Lucy she didn't look all that different except for her lips.

One could say that this was _also_ beautiful, but she wanted nothing other than to claw it off of her face.

The chair she was sitting in creaked as she leaned forward a bit, and the sound pushed her back down to earth. All she could do now was wait and hope with all of her energy that Henway's plan would work. Hope that this would be over soon.

Hope that she would see him again.

She rubbed her hands together and clutched the fabric of her dress, looking to the clock once more. Ten minutes were supposedly left, but as she checked there was a sudden click from the door that was flung open soon after.

And what was revealed increased her nausea ten-fold.

_Ainsley_.

* * *

Henway strode quickly towards his destination and gave a small sigh of relief when he saw the door to the household treasury come into his view. Luckily, on the day Lucy had arrived he'd followed the maid that confiscated her keys and seen where they had been taken. Of course at the time he didn't know that he would be stealing them back, but it proved to be useful in the end anyhow.

He reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out his ring of keys to almost every door with a lock in the house, and took hold of the biggest one in the group. It was gold and quite gaudy looking.

_Just like everything else in the mansion,_ Henway thought a bit bitterly.

He placed the key in the lock and heard a faint clicking noise. The door then opened with a slight push and he quickly turned around to shut it and lock it once more. He then swiveled his head back around and his eyes were met with the same sight he had seen many times before.

The room was large and scarcely lit. Crates were piled on top of each other all over, creating a maze like atmosphere. Luckily enough, he had been in here more times that he could count and knew his way around. It took him all of two minutes to find the safe he was looking for, having guessed that Lucy's keys would be held in there.

He came upon the old grey thing, and grasped the lock in his hand, hastily inserting the key that matched it. It then suddenly gave a small click and the lock popped open.

Henway opened its door and was met with the relieving sight of Lucy's keys sitting there among the safes other contents.

"Whew…" Henway let out a breathy sigh, and quickly grabbed the keys.

Once he had them in hand though, he noticed something odd. Intrigued, he raised his hand up to his eye level and got a closer look at them.

"Are they…_shaking_?" his eyebrows raised and he tightened his grip on them to make , they were indeed shaking, and Henway being the curious fellow he'd been for the past sixty-four years began to observe the magical keys a little more intensely.

_Why on earth would they be shaking? I know that there are spirits behind these keys, but can they actually affect the keys themselves? Fascinating…_

_AHEM! This is __**NOT**__ the time for this!_

The smart and rational side of his mind suddenly reminded him that he was on a tight schedule.

"Oh, yes. Right!" he voiced to himself, and mentally berated his lack of attention span.

_Getting old really does have its disadvantages…_ he thought with a bite of anger.

Quickly, he placed the still vibrating keys in his coat pocket, and made his way out of the treasury, making sure that no trace of his presence was left.

* * *

Gajeel began pushing the carriage out of the warehouse with little force, an easy task for him; the blunettes on the other hand looked as if they were going to pop a vein in their heads. Their throats were emitting a sort of pitiful noise, and sweat was rolling down their foreheads, eyebrows scrunched in concentration. He was going to blurt out an insensitive remark, but his thoughts were taking him away yet again. The old man called "Henway" being the topic.

He still didn't quite understand what it was that made him want to believe the old man. It definitely wasn't like him to trust someone he had just met, and on a recon mission no less, but still, there was something. At first he had smelt bunny girls scent on him, but that could mean a number of things. He could've beaten her. He could've forced her to do something. He could've bumped into her. So in conclusion, it wasn't bunny girls scent that made him trust the old man.

Maybe it was in the way he talked about her? He tried asking himself; irritated he was putting so much thought into this. The old man didn't speak of the girl in a hateful way, or even an irritated way. It was more like a caring tone, distressed even.

There was still nothing to pinpoint where his decision came from, but his senses were telling him to go with it for now and see if it played out well.

"Hey! Gajeel!" Levy shouted at him and gained his attention, "What are you doing?" She placed her hands on her hips and made that same pouting face that he'd grown oh so use to, "You're supposed to be contacting Erza and tell her what's going on! We still need her approval for what we're doing." She paused to rub her temples and sigh, "Seriously, how did we even get into this mess. If we continue it'll get in the way of Erza's plan, but if this man really is trust worthy then…I still don't even know! Just hurry and contact Erza. We need to talk to her before that old man comes back!"

"Alright, alright! For someone so small, you sure have a loud voice…" he muttered the last part under his breath.

Gajeel reached into his pocket, took out the communication lacrima the redhead had given him in the earlier hours of the day, and pushed the button on its side that connected him to its twin. The thing began emitting a small humming noise and he knew it was working.

Almost immediately the line connected and he heard Erza on the other line, "_What is it?! The wedding is going to start in a matter of minutes. Why didn't you contact us earlier?! I was expecting a report!_" Her stern hushed voice was venomous and he really didn't want to deal with her attitude, so he got the explaining over with quickly.

A minute passed and he was able to sum up the recent events decently enough, but Erza had none of it.

"_What the hell?!_" her voice was so loud that he could almost feel her trying to strangle him.

"NO!_ We stick to __**my **__plan, and go from there! We went over this! You were supposed to confirm Lucy's whereabouts!_"

"And we did!" Gajeel bit back, and made the rest of his company flinch at the boom of his voice, "That old man I told you about had her scent on him, and it was recent. Bunny girl can't be far from here."

He heard Erza growl under her breath before she spoke again, "You have one minute to tell me everything about this man. His height, weight, hair color, choice of clothing, posture, everything. I'll have to decide for myself whether or not we ca- oh _fuck_."

"What happened?" Gajeel questioned, thoroughly confused at the sudden swear.

There was some rumbling over the line and Erza was back on, "The procession started; they're playing the music right now. Fuck. Alright, we're going with _our_ plan, there's no time to make unnecessary decisions. Stay where you are and we'll come afterwards- _wait_…"

Her voice suddenly died down with a confused tone, and Gajeel waited as told.

"What it is now?" he voiced his question after five seconds of being obedient.

"_**GRAY, GO FIND NATSU OUTSIDE THE GATE. WE'RE LEAVING. NOW**_."

He heard Erza's yell over the phone and cringed. Her voice was practically _seething_.

"What the hell happened?! Why aren't you getting bunny girl?!" Gajeel yelled into the lacrima, and his group gathered around him.

"What do you mean? Why are they getting Lu-chan?!" Levy, who was suddenly grabbing onto his arm, spoke out.

"They're leaving her?!" Happy asked in an incredulous voice.

"We need answers here!" Gajeel shouted into the lacrima once again.

"The fucking _bastard_ fooled us!" Erza yelled over the line, her voice huffing as if she were running.

"What are you talking about?!" Levy questioned Erza this time.

_"It was a stand-in! The people getting married are substitutes for the real bride and groom!_"

The whole group listening to Erza's voice paled. "You don't mean to say…"

"_Yes! It's exactly that! The wedding they're holding here is just for show! Damn it!_" Erza paused to hit herself on the head, "_I can't believe I didn't realize this earlier! Of course it would be too dangerous for a family this rich and famous to have a semi-public wedding!_"

"The fuck?!" Gajeel swore at the complexity of the situation. "Why the hell would people hire actors to get married in their place? It sounds like some pretty idiotic shit to me."

"_It's actually not that uncommon among wealthy families. Hitmen, and many other organizations take advantage of the fact that practically the whole family will be attending a wedding, and wipe them out, stealing all the money and fortune afterward_." Erza answered Gajeel, and switched to yelling at Gray, "_OI! GRAY! DID YOU FIND NATSU?!_"

"_yeahhe'soverhere!_" they heard Gray's severely muffled voice over the line.

Gajeel sighed and ran a hand over his face, "So what's the plan now? Salamander's not going to be happy that we don't know where his girlfriend is, so I suggest that we abandon everything else and just focus on finding bunny girl. God knows that's the only thing he's gonna want to do."

More rumbling sounded over the line and Erza spoke again, "_Just…just __**stay **__where you are! We're coming to you. We'll see what this "old man" you were talking about knows and go from there._" She paused for a second, and groaned "_You're probably right about Natsu. Just be happy you're not the one who has to tell him._"

"_Anyway, do as I said and stay put. Natsu will follow your scent, so we'll be there quickly._"

And just before the line cut off, a booming "**WHAT**?!" full of anger and frustration was heard.

Gajeel gave a forced laugh and placed the hand that wasn't being held down by Levy over his eyes.

_What kind of shit are we in now…?_

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for making you wait for so long. Things got kinda crazy on my side of the screen for a little while there, again... But anyway, here's another chapter for you. Albeit a short, and uneventful one, but a chapter nonetheless.

Oh, and I wanted to make something a bit clearer for those of you reading. It's in regards to the review by- Sakura Lisel I replied to the reviewer with the following-

_"Hmm, well I suppose I didn't make the legal threat clear enough. And I totally understand what you mean by them being able to handle any threat that comes their way. But, we haven't ever really seen them up against a threat that comes with "contracts and binds, Judges and laws, and rich snobs who can buy off the whole court." Lucy, in my opinion, knows how all of this works. She grew up around it her whole life, and knows how dangerous it can all be. It isn't a matter that physical strength can handle. With the knowledge of this, and the knowledge of just how reckless her friends can be, she chooses to do what she thinks is best, while still keeping her will and determination that she crafted in Fairy Tail. _  
_I wanted to do a take on how Fairy Tail would handle a situation where there usual "Fairy Tail Style" was rendered useless. And what I'm working on here is just that.c:"_

So as you see, this isn't a tale where Lucy is going to become, and stay a hopeless damsel in distress that doesn't believe her friends are strong enough. I hope I cleared some issues up, and that you continue to read/review my story!c:


	12. Chapter 12

"A…Ains…" she tried to sound out his name, but the words wouldn't come out over the large lump that was forming in her throat.

That sickening feeling that had threatened to completely break her last night was pooling in her stomach once again. Her finger tips and toes were burning with fear, much like the front of her face felt. White hot and nauseating, it washed through her in the instant she saw his face.

"Cat got your tongue, girl?" he smirked through the shadow's covering his face.

Much like she, he was dressed in formal attire. A black suit and tie buttoned up all the way covered and hugged his chest, fitting equally as well on the lower half of his body. His hair, seemingly a bit wind-blown, was down and a bit shaggy looking.

Girls would've swooned, but Lucy's eyes were wide for a completely different reason.

"Are you ready to leave now?" he walked into the room, not bother to shut the door, and picked up a random object that was lying on the table next to him, tossing it around in his hands.

Lucy swallowed back the knot in her throat and tried to speak with a clear voice, "Th- the maids said they were coming to get me..." she ended the sentence on a confused note, trying to make it sound lax as possible.

"Oh yes, " he dropped the object he was fiddling with, and look up at her, "there's been a change of plans!" he feigned enthusiasm, "The wedding will be going on without us. We're going to have a private ceremony, just us and a hired priest on our way out of the country." He finished while picking at his index fingernail.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, trying to absorb this new information.

He sighed and took a few more steps into the room until he was right in front of her, leaning dangerously close to her face, "I mean, we're leaving. That old man Henway decided that he couldn't let go of that _petty_ attachment he had to you when he worked for your family, not to mention those filthy mage friends of yours _had_ to make an appearance. Did they really think I would notice them? Ugh." He ended with obvious disgust. "And things were going to go so well too. I guess I'll never understand why those monkeys make things like attachments, and go to such idiotic, futile lengths to preserve them…"

"Wait, wait a second." She paused, the increase of her heart beat sounding loudly against her eardrums. "What do you mean my "mage friends"?" she asked him with her head down and hand palm up extended in front of her."

Ainsley sighed, "Do I have to explain everything to you? Did you not understand what I said, clear as day?" his face held a sincerely flabbergasted look, "Those mages you called your "friends" are here. They were seen at the gates of the garden."

_No. NO._

"No! Damn it! They were supposed to stay where they were!" she shouted at herself. "They weren't supposed to come!"

But she knew. _Oh_, did she know. They were _Fairy Tail_ for Christ's sake. What had _possessed_ her to make her think that they would sit still? And to make it worse, she _wanted_ them to come. Deep down, no matter how big the part of her had resolved to do what she was doing, she hoped that they would do this. Despite the consequences.

"Yes well," he paused and looked outside the door into the hall, "they're here now, so we must get going. I'll have them dealt with later when I get in contact with my resources."

"NO!" she shouted at him, the weight of what the consequence actually _was _rushing back into her consciousness, "Just leave them alone! I'll go!" he cocked an eyebrow at her, and she lowered her voice, desperate to reason with him, "I'll go. Just, don't _do_ anything to them. They haven't seen me yet," she swallowed, "and we'll keep it that way."

Across the room, she suddenly heard a dark laughter emitting from his chest, deep and menacing. "Oh but my dear girl," he stalked towards her and snatched her wrist into his hand, bringing it up to the level of his face, "what would be the fun it that?"

"Wha-" she began to protest when Ainsley suddenly brought his fist up in a swift movement and collided into her cheek, effectively making her go unconscious.

"Fuel for the fire." He answered the question she didn't get to ask.

Shifting her body around, he tossed her over his shoulder, a bit more difficult than he expected now that she was dead weight, and exited the dressing room, making his way to the carriage waiting for him on the side of the house.

"And now the fun begins."

* * *

Henway exited the treasury, and made it out of the hallway with ease, relief washing over him at the fact that no one had seen him come or go. A small grin spread over his face unconsciously, his plan seemed to be going quite well, though the hardest part was still yet to come. Getting Lucy out of there and explaining everything else to her friends was what came next.

He strode through all the different sections of the house, his destination being the courtyard out back to meet up with his newly acquired acquaintances, but he stopped in his tracks when he heard a particularly startling conversation from two maids standing by.

"Yes, it does make sense actually. Though the Master didn't have to be so hush-hush about it, don't you think? He should've thought to tell us sooner, the foolish man.."

"He most likely didn't want word spreading out, you know how many lose tongues there are around here. Especially Mary and Anne…"

"So true. The news of the actors paid to be the bride and groom substitutes would've spread like wildfire if it had gotten out wouldn't it?"

Initially, he had frozen, but by the end of their conversation, he had already stalked up to the pair with a hard composure, "What was that?! Could you please explain?"

The maids, startled by his unexpected presence and glare he was giving them, spoke again, "Yes, well the Master held a meeting about an hour ago and informed the staff that the wedding being held out in the garden was a show wedding, if you will. Actors who specialize in transformation magic were paid to transform into the Master and Young Mistress and fake getting married in front of the crowd."

"It's brilliant isn't it?" the other maid spoke out this time, "It's seems as though many wealthy families have been doing this lately. For protection you know."

Henway only nodded in response and the maids felt the need to take their leave, confused at the odd behavior of the usually composed butler they've known. A few seconds passed, and he kicked off the floor, breaking into a full on run.

_So much for my plan going "Quite Well."_ He mentally hissed at his earlier thought.

This changed everything. He didn't even know where the "real" ceremony was going to be held! How in the world was he supposed to get her out?! If _that_ had changed, then who's to say the whole schedule, including the break he was planning to take advantage of, hadn't changed?!

"Damn it!" he swore as he reached the back door, still panning to meet up with Lucy's friends.

The wedding should've already started by now, so he needed to find out immediately where Lucy was being taken, and he _knew_ that she would already be taken. Ainsley wasn't a fool, but he hadn't thought that he would've caught on to his intentions so quickly. Though he supposed what he did last night _was_ a dead giveaway.

None of that mattered in the slightest now anyhow. Lucy was most certainly in the hands of the monster he was trying to save her from, he didn't have the slightest clue as to where she was being taken, and now that he noticed, her keys were shaking more and more by the minute.

He shoved the back door open and wiped the sweat collecting on his brow with the back of his hand.

_Things are getting way out of hand!_

* * *

Natsu kicked up the dirt beneath the bench he was sitting on, and watched it fly into the air before settling onto the ground a few seconds later. A form of entertainment he guessed, a pretty _sad_ form of entertainment, but it was occupying his mind nonetheless. Anything to keep his thoughts off those pathetic assholes of human beings was currently being welcomed into his mind.

He sat there idly for a few more minutes, blinking out the sun from his eyes when he looked up, and noticing that there were storm clouds brewing to the east of them, when he suddenly heard the procession music being played loudly inside the garden.

"Shit." Erza was going to have his ass if he wasn't where he was supposed to be.

He quickly rose off of his place on the bench, not bothering to wipe off the dirt that collected on his pants and began sprinting off towards the gates when he saw a frantic Gray bust out them.

Once he was outside the garden, Gray stopped in his tracks and swiveled his head around, searching for a pink head.

"Gray! What the hell's going on?!" Natsu yelled, making his presence known to the ice-mage.

Hearing his voice, Gray's head snapped to his general direction, and the guy was in his face in less than three seconds.

"Where the fuck were you?!" He spewed his question out rather venomously.

"I've been here like I said I was going to be!" he shot back with equal intensity, "Now what's happening?! Why aren't you in there with Erza?!"

Gray stopped his rioting for a moment, and tried to catch his breath. He ran a hand through his hair and down his face, squeezing his eyes shut as he did, "It's a fake, man. This wedding is just some show for the people who were invited."

Natsu also paused, trying to understand what was being spoken to him, "What do you mean it's a "fake"? Isn't Lucy supposed to be walking down the aisle right now?"

"They're actors! It's not the real Lucy walking down there right now, it some imposter who's using transformation magic." Gray replied while stepping back a few feet. The heat his friend was radiating was beginning to be too much for his cold natured self to handle.

"So you're saying we don't know where Lucy is?"

Gray hesitated to answer, concerned at how deadly serious Natsu's voice had gotten, "Basically. Erza had just gotten a call from the group that went to follow her scent." He looked back to see is said red-head had come out of the garden yet, "It was there, but there's no telling if _she_ is there or not. They didn't get that far into searching before someone caught them in the act."

"_Caught_ them?"

"Yeah. The dude claims to be an old friend of Lucy's." he crossed his arms, "Even Gajeel trusted the guy, said something about how he had a fresh scent of her on him, so we're going to see what's going on over there."

And just as he finished, one half of the iron gate Gray had just come bursting through, flew out with a loud screeching sound and landed onto the gravel in front of them, screams echoing out of the garden.

"The hell?" Gray questioned as he rubbed dust out of his eye.

" **OI! GRAY! DID YOU FIND NATSU!**" Erza's voice sounded out of the large dust cloud that had formed in front of the gardens entrance.

"Yeah! He's over here!" He yelled back to Erza.

A few seconds passed, and the destroyer of the gate came running out of the cloud, furiously spewing words into the communication lacrima.

She reached them in a matter of seconds, and stuffed the lacrima into that other dimensional wardrobe she had as she did, "We're leaving! Now! Have you told Natsu everything yet?!"

"Yeah and I'm not sure he's tak-"

"I'm going." Natsu interrupted Gray as he began to turn around.

"Hey!" Erza dashed out in front of him and held a hand to his chest, "You're not going _ANYWHERE_. We're going to meet up with the others, and think this through."

"The hell with thinking things through! I'm going after her like I should've in the first place!" He removed her hand from his chest, and closed his eyes, focusing on finding Lucy's scent.

Erza's eyebrows knotted in frustration as her mind began running around in circles. She already knew that convincing Natsu to calm down was out of the question. But would it be right for them to just directly find Lucy, or should they meet up with the others first? No, she already told them to wait for her. If she called back now and told them they were going after Lucy where would that leave them? They all needed to re-group and map out their next move, _fast_.

"Damn it all." She muttered under her breath, and backed up a few steps from the fire-mage who was now still as a statue. Once she was shoulder to shoulder with Gray, she whispered, "Be ready to grab him."

And in an instant, Natsu's ear twitched, having heard Erza's whisper, and was about to run off when Gray kicked off the ground and lunged toward him, effectively getting him in a firm neck-lock.

"Now what?!" Gray grunted out over the struggle Natsu was creating.

And before either could say another word, Erza began chanting the sleeping spell she had planned to use back in the garden into the open, and directed it towards Natsu, almost immediately lulling him into a forced sleep.

He collapsed under his own feet, and became dead weight in Gray's arms, "Did you really have to knock him out?" Gray forced out as he shifted Natsu's body on his back.

"There was nothing for it!" she snapped at him, "We don't have time to waste, and we _can't_ afford Natsu going on a rampage looking for Lucy right now! We have to meet up with the others and plan our next move. See what this "Henway" Gajeel had talked about has to say."

"Okay but-"

"If we go after her now without a plan, it'll backfire just like this did! Just finding Lucy and obtaining her won't be enough to actually _help_ her! It's not like I don't understand that he wants to find her!" Erza continued on, having also been frustrated with her own methods, "This is becoming a mess! The only solution is to gather everyone and get our heads on straight!"

"Okay! Calm down Erza!" Gray interrupted her before she could pop a vein, "This isn't like you. Let's just get going like you said, alright?"

She huffed out a puff of hot air, and turned toward the large mansion that was sitting in the distance, "Fine. Let's get on with this."

Gray nodded in response, and heaved Natsu into a better position on his back, almost feeling sorry for the love-struck idiot.

This situation _had_ to be killing the guy. Practically everyone in the guild had been waiting for the fool to realize his feelings for Lucy. It was obvious to all eyes that they were more than friends and of course it was just their luck that when it did happen, Lucy goes AWOL, they find out she's marrying some rich dude, find out that she's more than likely being _forced_ to do it, and just when they think they have a so-so plan to get her back, it blows up in their faces.

And to make matters worse, even _Erza_, the calm one, was losing her cool.

Sighing, Gray picked up his pace to level with his red-haired companion, hoping that Natsu wouldn't wake until they met up with the rest of the group.


	13. Chapter 13

Natsu began regaining consciousness at the sound of harsh shouting, and a sharp pain thumping inside of his head. He wanted desperately to tell the voices to shut the hell up and let him sleep, but his mind was so clouded that not even his eyes would open willingly yet. So instead he settled for listening to the idiots that were yelling, thinking that if he tried to keep up with their conversation, he could get back some clarity of mind.

"So?! Where is this man you spoke of?!" A particularly venomous voice sounded in his ears.

"He said he'd be back after gettin' Bunny Girls keys!" A much deeper voice spoke this time.

"Her keys were taken from her?!" she shot back.

"I-is Natsu-san alright?" A small voice this time, high pitched and young sounding.

"Yeah! Why did you knock him out anyway?!" Spoke another voice, but this time there was a feeling of a paw patting his face accompanying it.

"I told you there was not another choice!" the venomous one yelled again, "He was about to run off on his own, and we can't afford that right now! I've said this a million times! We wait for the man you spoke of and go from there. He'll have exactly one minute to explain who he is to Lucy and if he has something useful, it will benefit us greatly."

_Lucy? Wait, what's going on…? Lucy? What happened to her?_ He tried blinking his eyes open, and noticed he was viewing everything sideways.

He was in this huge looking warehouse, with windows lining up side by side on the upper half of the walls and crates stacked upon each other everywhere. Some, he noticed, were adjusted in a circle to serve as seats to his friends who he now knew were the source of all the yelling.

_Where the hell am I? What were we doing… The wedding? They said something about Lucy. Wait…Lucy? SHIT, LUCY!_

Immediately he jumped up onto his feet, swaying to the side from the grogginess of his sleep when he did. The looks he gained from his company were, scared, exasperated, angry, and relieved, none of which coming from the face of the girl he wanted to see most.

"Natsu!" Happy rejoiced in the consciousness of his friend from below, "You're finally awake!"

Natsu looked down to his furry companion and grimaced at the last part of his sentence, "And why the hell was I sleeping anyway?" he directed eyes and sentence to Erza who was sitting with one leg over the other, arms folded, and eyes closed.

"Because you were about to run off like a reckless fool." She replied, the venom in her voice gone and replaced with a calm yet frustrated tone.

"And why the hell shouldn't I have?! It's not like we have anything else to go on!" he shouted back and clenched his fists for what seemed the millionth time that day, "Now that fucker is getting farther and farther away with Lucy! I _NEED_ to go after her now! We can't waist time here waiting on some goddamned old man that might "_possibly_" have some useful info we can use!"

And now he wasn't even yelling at her, not really. His mouth was just spewing angry words. He was actually more frustrated with himself and the fact the there was this undeniable _want_ and _need_ to see her. It was there itching at his head, pooling in the middle of his stomach, burning in his chest and demanding to be noticed. He needed to know if she was alright, why she left, why she kissed him, not that he minded, and how she had gotten herself into this damn situation. The "why's" were just piling up by the minute.

"Umm, Ahem." Henway stepped inside the warehouse just as he was quite loudly expressing his frustrations, feeling quite a bit intimidated by the young man.

Natsu's head swiveled toward the foreign voice immediately, a bit put off that he hadn't heard the man approach sooner.

"And here's the old man now. _Finally_." Gajeel muttered to the group. His mood darkened considerably at having to listen to the red haired chick shout at him for a good thirty minutes.

"Yes, and unfortunately I bear bad news." Henway sighed, still frustrated. There was absolutely _no_ clarity to the situation, let alone a way to explain to Lucy's friends what he had just heard.

"Yeah. I think we already know old man." Gajeel stopped him from explaining what they already knew, "These people here were at the damned wedding."

"Is that right?"

This time Erza spoke up, getting off her seat on the dusty crate and stalking up to the man, seemingly towering over him even though he was a good foot taller than her, "You have one minute. Explain all that you know. _Every_. _Little_. _Thing_."

Henway swallowed down a lump that had formed in his throat. In all his years of living he had never seen a woman quite as frightening as this one, "If you would, tell me what you know first. That way I won't speak of what you already know."

Spending a few more seconds judging the man, Erza replied, "You were an old friend of Lucy's. You had a plan to get her out of here. It failed as did ours. Something," she looked over to Natsu mulling over whether she should say this next part aloud or not, and decided she might as well lay it all out now, "_happened_ to Lucy and you won't divulge because it would be an invasion of her privacy."

Henway simply nodded, noting that they were pretty much up to speed on what he had shared with their friends, and was about to speak again until the rose haired intimidating one interrupted him.

"Something happened to her?" he inquired, his tone unreadable.

"Yes, but it's not my place to-"

"_What_ happened?" he insisted again.

"I've already said that I cannot tell you. It would be wrong of me."

Natsu stepped a few feet closer to the man, "And_ I've_ already asked what happened to her."

"Natsu, this isn't the time." Gray butt into his practical harassment of the old man.

"Who are you to keep what happened to Lucy to yourself?" Natsu burst out again, his anger getting the better of him, "We have as much a right to know as you do!"

"Oi. Calm down Salamander." Gajeel also tried to reason with him, but knew that if he were in his shoes, he looked over to the shrimp next to him; he'd have done the same thing.

"Do you think I _WANT_ to know?!" Henway, as serene as he was trying to be, also began to raise his voice. He was already frustrated enough that he hadn't gotten to her sooner, and now this young man was yelling at him to explain it all! "I was the one who had to take her away from that_ hideous monster_ of a man! Be thankful you didn't have to see her descent from an unfeeling face to a girl that couldn't keep her sobs contained and her face from displaying the sheer terror she was feeling! Be thankful you didn't have to see her practically shrink into herself as she tried to hold her mind together!"

And at his words, the faces of all the people in front of him dropped drastically, revealing the concerned and defeated looks that were hiding underneath the surface. The two blunettes , including the blue cat, in the warehouse even began shedding silent tears.

"Alright," Erza began, "just tell us. After that you can't keep it from us." Gray nodded as did Gajeel, Lily, and Charle.

Natsu on the other hand, who'd gone eerily quiet, felt like he didn't or better worded _couldn't_ hear anymore. The words were now stuck inside his head, yet he couldn't even picture it. Lucy, bubbly, happy, easily annoyed Lucy, crying and shaking the way he'd described, it didn't seem possible. Of course he'd seen her cry before and even then he didn't know how to handle it. Some were happy tears, some sad but nothing too extreme. Sobbing and shaking though, that was, it was, it just didn't, for lack of a better word, _work _in his mind_._

Henway sighed and rubbed his temples, realizing that he'd already overstepped the boundaries he was trying to keep. He cast glances to the faces of the people surrounding him once more. They were her friends, no doubt, but precisely because they were so close to her was one of the reasons he hadn't wanted to be the one to convey this. It was selfish of him, now that he thought about it. It would probably be best to tell them now, so Lucy wouldn't have to talk about it later. If there was a later of course.

So, he set aside his emotions on the matter as best he could, which wasn't a very fertile effort, and explained everything to them as he was instructed. He told them of his past serving her when she lived in her old home, why Lucy had come here in the first place, that she was black mailed, that she was trying to protect them from certain life in prison, and that she had been minutes away from being unwillingly taken by the man she had resolved to marry for their sakes.

He'd gone over his time limit by two minutes.

* * *

Lucy lay still in the back seat of a fairly large carriage, her head ringing with an ungodly rhythm of thumping against her skull. It confused her at first, but she soon remembered that she'd been knocked unconscious with a fist to her face, the pain and swelling being quite more noticeable now that she recalled the incident.

She opened her left eye a crack, not daring to let anyone who might be around her know that she was awake. From what she saw there was no one in the back with her, so she became a bit more daring and opened both eyes, moving her head to the side to look at the front of the carriage.

And there he was, sitting in the front with a man dressed in a priests clothing and munching on an apple, not a care in the world displayed on his face. Her eyes then wandered out of the window in front of her and outside was nothing but empty fields and a forest on the far left of them. Farming fields by the looks of all of the wheat that was swaying about in the wind.

She was at a loss as to what to do. Back in the dressing room she'd agreed to go with him, but now… she didn't even know what was supposed to happen next. Henway was gone. There was no telling just how long she had been passed out and how long they had been traveling. There was no "plan" anymore. Nothing. But was she supposed to just lay here and do nothing? What else was there? She pleaded with her brain to figure _something_ out, any little thing that she could do, but of course, like all other attempts she had made at this, nothing came to mind.

But she wasn't even close to giving up. Not now. Not ever. She would find a way back home even if it took her years to fight her way back. Something would happen, something would change, and she would use it to her advantage. Her mother, bless her heart, had drilled this into her a long time ago.

_"There's always a way."_ She would say. _"Something someday somewhere will rear its head and smile so brightly at you that you'll be blinded by its sincerity. It most definitely will. So don't ever feel hopeless. It's hopeless to be hopeless."_

Of course at the time Lucy couldn't comprehend what her mother was talking about, or what had even happened to her for her to know all of that, so she had only smiled at her mother and gone on about some butterfly she had caught in the late afternoon.

Lucy gave a silent laugh in spite of herself. Her mother had already been gone for _years_ now, and she was still finding ways to realize just how amazing she had been.

So, for now at least, she was going to accept what would happen. If things got to dangerous, or too... ,she thought back to last night and shuddered, like _that_, then she wouldn't be still like last time. Her keys were safe, she knew, in the hands of her dear old friend Henway. They would be taken care of, and hopefully, if Loke or any of her other spirits got out of their gates, he could explain everything.

A small, slightly broken smile spread on her face as streaks of tears began rolling down her cheeks.

_Damn it._ She didn't want to cry. Crying would get her nowhere, and frankly, she felt that she'd already had her fill of it. But, thinking about what that man had said, that they had been there at the mansion, was cutting into the wall she made to keep her emotions at bay. The fact that they had really been there, that Natsu had come after her… She honestly couldn't think about it.

"Damn it." She swore under her breath and cursed the man sitting outside of the carriage.

_If I do have one regret though_, she shut her eyes, stopping the tears and let the image float into her mind, _it was that I didn't get to see his face at least one more time._

* * *

**A/N: **Well, sorry for the wait! It's not much, but things are progressing. I'll try and make the next chapter longer, but due to some hectic things going on, I barely have time to write. T^T

Anyway, the group is told what happened to Lucy, you'll find out their reaction next time, and Lucy is on her way to God knows where.

Thanks for all the reviews! Until the next chapter.c:


	14. Chapter 14

All had gone silent inside the warehouse once Henway finished his explaining and, in guilt for his earlier outburst, apologizing. Not that he was actually sorry. The old man hardly ever did anything he regretted, but for the sake of keeping these people in his company for the time being, he needed to be on common ground with them. They were good people, he could tell, but if they couldn't go along with what he said, if they couldn't grasp the severity of the matter, then there was no hope in helping Lucy find her way out if that bind.

He looked at all their expressions, shock, anger, sadness; it was all present on their faces. Tears were being shed and fists were being clenched, but the rose haired teen he'd snapped at earlier, who seemed to be a further distance than before, was yet to show anything. The mage had his head facing downward, so his face wasn't visible to Henway, but from what he _could_ see, veins had begun to show on his clenched arm.

"Again, I'm truly sorry for this to have happened. I understand if you need time to process, but we don't exactly have that." He sighed and unconsciously fidgeted with his hands, his thumbs making rotations around each other.

Lucy's friends still didn't move or speak a single word.

Becoming restless, he turned his sights to the one with whom he had first spoke to, Gajeel. Not even _that_ man had spoken. All that was evident on his face was an obvious disgust and frustration at the news he had just been told. His arm had moved to cover the older blunette's shoulders; the poor girl wouldn't stop shaking.

"Do you have _any_ idea where he might be headed?" the scarlet haired woman spoke up this time, and Henway could hear the obvious anger in her voice.

"Well of course." he answered immediately, "The Jureners have many properties amongst the country and others, but most of them are either being renovated at the moment or being built, so he'll be most likely to not leave the country _yet_." He paused to let them take in the possibility of him leaving Fiore and went on, "The only place he can comfortably go now would have to be his cottage near the Northern border of our country, and I'm eighty-nine percent sure he will go there but the _point_ is that we can't just go after and retrieve Lucy from the man."

"And why not?!" the older blue haired girl snapped, "She's been through enough. Why can't we just go after her?"

Henway shook his head, "It's much too complicated for it to be that easy! To take her away from him recklessly, the consequences would be severe."

"What else _can_ we do?" Gray questioned, his voice wavering as much as the one's before him.

"Listen for a moment-"

"We have to go after her right?" the small blue cat spoke this time.

"You don't understand-"

He was cut off again but by the one called Erza this time, "I agree. We haven't much of a choice now. If we're going to help her then we have to go after her."

"LISTEN!" he shouted and finally got them to be quiet once more, "You have to understand the severity of the situation you're in! Lucy's not the only on in danger here!"

Gajeel's studded eyebrow raised as he questioned, "What the hell are you talking about old man?"

Henway sighed out hot air and tried to compose himself, "What is it exactly that you mages do?"

"You know damn well what we-"

He cut the pierced man off, "Yes, but for the sake of getting somewhere with this conversation, please just answer the question."

Gajeel raised his hands to his waist and opened his mouth to speak, but Erza answered before he could, "We take jobs that are given to our guild. We travel to our employer, carry out the mission, receive payment for it, and come back to take on more jobs. Now why did we need to answer what you already know?" she crossed her arms.

He nodded in appreciation for the answer the mage gave, and turned to face all the others, "What if that was all taken away by the soiling of your guilds name?"

Silence and raised eyebrows were their reply, so he went on.

"What would you do if you were no longer able to go on jobs? If you were blacklisted by every guild and employer for a crime you did not commit? Even if the consequences were not life in jail, which he could surely do, your lives as mages would be over if he wish as so."

"He undoubtedly has the _power_," he clenched his fists in front of him, "to do all of these things if you get in the way of what he wants. And there is not even the slightest chance he will let you get away with that."

"How can a spoiled brat of an adult harbor that much wrong inside him?" Erza held a confused look about her face, "What is it that would cause him to go to such extreme measures to keep one girl?"

"You would go to extreme measures wouldn't you?" Henway gestured to the lot of them, "You've surely proven that."

"He has a point." Levy added as she tried to compose herself.

"Yes but we have an attachment to said girl." Erza countered looking to Levy then back to Henway, "This Ainsley has only known Lucy for all of how many days now? It's not like he has such a need to keep her is there? I know that money was one of the bargaining tools in this predicament, but surely this family would only go so far even for that, right?"

"The greed of man would seem to have no boundaries Ms. Scarlet. Trust me when I say this family knows no other way of life than to wrongly gain wealth."

"In other words they don't give a fuck what happens to anyone as long as they get what they want?" Gray spoke up, crossing him arms over his chest.

His head wasn't exactly dealing with this well either. Lucy was like a sister to him, and if he knew her even the slightest bit, there was no way Lucy was "fine". Everyone in the room knew she loved them like family and would never want to be _separated_ from said family, they learned this back when Phantom Lord was giving them trouble. So for her to do this was not like her at all.

They'd already drilled into her head that no matter what the cause, they would stay by her side and support her. Nothing was too big and bad that they couldn't handle, or so they had thought. After the Phantom Lord incident, they had confirmed and reconfirmed with her that she was never to sacrifice herself for them, they would get through it together. And it was certain that she had accepted and wanted to abide by that rule, so why now? Why after all this time was she doing exactly what she'd happily sworn not to do?

The answer after all was that this proved to be too "big and bad".

"In a sense, yes." Henway replied to the dark haired man and sat down on a nearby crate, his old knees quivering with a sudden shot of pain, "Do you all understand now? Going after them recklessly will only spell demise for you all."

"Then you expect us to do nothing then?" Levy shot with a weak spat of anger.

"I never said that." He replied immediately while shaking his head.

"Then what?" The smaller blunette questioned with a shaky, her eyes still bearing tiny tears.

"Wendy…" Happy spoke, not having any real sentence to voice.

Charle, who was standing next to her with folded furry arms, contorted her brows in focus. Small as she was, her brain was no match for her size. While her guild-mates had been speaking with the elderly man, her mind had been searching through every possibility. She had been coming up with countless ideas, and striking out the ones that were nonsense until she had finally come up with the only solution. One that she knew almost everyone in the room would disagree to.

The white cat sighed and spread her wings, lifting into the air to get everyone's attention. "Ahem." She cleared her throat and earned their gaze, "It would seem that the only logical thing to do is convene with the man."

"What?!" a unison of appalled voices sounded in the room, save for Henway who was focusing on not passing out and her ears twitched in irritation. She looked down at all of their faces, and noticed that Natsu's head was still down, his body seemingly closer to the exit than before but she shrugged it off, "What else then?!" she scolded their close-mindedness.

"What else is there for us to do?!" clenched fists and stubborn faces revealed themselves to her in response, "We can't take her back by force, we can't rush after them, we can't be reckless like you all love to do. What else then?! If anyone has a better idea then speak up quick because Lucy is getting farther and farther away as we speak."

No one in the room had a good enough plan to speak aloud so she went on, "You people are intent on rescuing her aren't you? You all have the guts to use force to get what you want, but not the will to try and speak to the man? Granted that it may not get us anywhere but it's the only thing left that we can do."

"We catch up with them, try to talk with the man, see why he's so intent on keeping Lucy away, and if things don't go well I'm sure you guys will act in the heat of the moment like you always do." She partially scoffed at the end of her sentence. She didn't need a vision to know that that's exactly what they would do if things went wrong.

"I fear that the young uh, cat is correct." Henway spoke up after regain a hold on his breathing, "It seems that this is the only option for-" and suddenly he was cut off by the ear splitting sound of thunder crashing amongst the now darkened sky.

"_Shit_!" Gajeel, who was covering his highly sensitive ears, cursed at the sudden noise and sniffed into the air, smelling the scent of rain water close by.

Everyone in the warehouse jumped at the noise that was soon followed by the pattering of rainfall hitting harshly against the metal roof. The lot of them turned their heads to one of the windows place high upon the warehouses wall, and saw the gray sky combined with a harsh down pour of rain.

"Just our luck." Gray muttered.

Happy on the other hand, who was not a fan of thunderous weather, turned on instinct to hide in between Natsu's feet, but was met with nothing. He swiveled his furry head around looking for the fire mage, and soon found that he was nowhere in sight. He was gone.

"Natsu?" He called aloud, and immediately gained the concerned attention of all of his friends in the room. They began mimicking Happy's actions, turning their heads back and forth looking for the fire mage, but weren't met with the sight they wanted

"Wha-" half a word slipped out of Erza's mouth as she walked a few steps forwards and turned her eyes to the door that had been hidden from their view by some large crates until now. She walked closer, now with a few people following her lead, and saw that it was slid open half way with rain water pooling at the foot of the entrance.

Upon the full realization of what had just happened, she dashed toward the sliding door and stuck her head out into the rain storm, "NATSU!" she yelled out and waited a second before shouting again, "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME YOU'D BETTER HAUL YOUR ASS BACK OVER HERE NOW!" She called out again, her voice colored in fury, but the sound was lost amongst the thunder and rain.

She stepped back inside, and paced a few steps before putting a dent in the side of the warehouse, "Damn it!"

"How the _hell_ did he get out without anyone noticing him!?" Gray questioned, his voice also raised in emphasis.

"How does that even matter now?! The damn pyro's gone off to get his girl back, and his scent's gonna be untraceable thanks to this rain." Gajeel joined in, two fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, "For fucks sake, what the hell are we going to do now?"

"We go after him! What else?" Levy stepped out from behind the pierced man in front of her, "He's already got a head start on what we were about to do right?" she looked over to Charle who was still in the air, "We just have to catch up with him before he gets too far!"

"I wouldn't count on catching up with him." Happy, who had also extended his wings muttered with a pained look on his face, "He's already faster than most of us when he's running for fun and I've never seen him act this way before so, I'm sure he's going even faster to Lucy now…" his voice trailed off at the mention of his missing blonde friend.

Erza, gritting her teeth, turned her sights back to Henway who hadn't moved an inch. She gave the elderly man a look of desperation. If what he said about this Ainsley character proved to be true, her family would lose everything; their jobs, the guild, their livelihood, all of it.

Being blacklisted hadn't really been the talk of the towns she'd visited, but she had heard her share of details from people who had actually suffered from it. Bars would sometimes harbor a man or woman who had actually been blacklisted by the courts of Fiore, and she didn't envy them. They had all either converted into drunkards, thieves, or more daring criminals who fought foolish fights and drank their problems away.

A woman she had shared a drink with once told her the details of her blacklisting, and all too willingly she might add. A letter had been sent to every guild in the country to be hung up and it stated that no guild was to accept her into their ranks; no person was allowed to offer her money in exchange for a job concerning magic. The woman had literally become a ghost in the world of mages, forced to hang it all away and work a normal job.

Thinking about this though, any right minded person would think that working a normal job and living a normal life would be a perfectly sound option, but the fact that most of their guild mates didn't know anything other than using magic for their jobs was the problem. The majority of them had grown up using magic, not needing any real schooling other than the completely necessary knowledge for everyday life.

Erza clenched her fists. Even she had to admit she would be at a complete loss if she were unable to use her magic for a living. Being held prisoner, escaping, joining Fairy Tail, and honing her magic didn't leave much time to even worry about schooling or normal jobs. She knew the things she needed to know to fit her current lifestyle, not the things that would easily settle her into a non-mage life.

"Well," Henway spoke as he stood from his sitting position, his throaty voice snapping Erza out of her panicked thoughts, "it seems we need to be going now."

"And where exactly are we supposed to be going?" Levy questioned, "Do we even know where he's taking Lucy?"

"As I mentioned before, the most likely place for him to go would be his cottage near the Northern border of Fiore, and it would be best that we reach him before he gets that far."

The mages in the room stilled for a moment, taking in exactly what he meant. If they were to let the bastard get that far then Lucy would be lost to them. In unison they nodded to each other and immediately began filing out of the warehouse and into the downpour. Each one of them held a grave look about their faces, and Henway didn't blame them one bit. They were practically gambling they're entire guilds future on this chance, where as he was old with not much of a future left ahead of him.

He walked out of the warehouse, and set his eyes on finding his old friend Betsy. Just before he had gone in to explain everything to the young ones just ahead of him, he had left her outside the entrance, but now he was met with an empty post and no horse.

A hand reached up to rub his forehead, "That man... it seems the he even took my horse on his way out." He spoke aloud but not really in anyone's direction.

"What?" the redheaded woman questioned him, not hearing his words because of the storm, but Henway only shook his head.

"Just follow me!" he shouted to the mages and began his run towards the stables, "We'll gather horses, ride back here to get the carriage, and be on our way!"

All at once, they ran out into the pouring rain to follow Henway, getting their hair and clothes soaked within seconds. The weather itself was going to be an obstacle for them. Severe winds and fluctuating rain pour wasn't exactly fit weather to find people, and he was already beginning to shake from the cold.

Tossing that to the side for a moment, he detached himself from the severity of what he was doing, and began to truly appreciate little Lucy's friends. He was glad she had made such a good life for herself, having known what she had been through, it made him all the more happy that she had a place she could happily call home.

_And by the looks of it_, he thought to himself and remembered the rose haired man from before, smiling in spite of everything,_ it even seems she's found someone willing to risk all of him for her sake._

Fortunately, yet unfortunately the old man knew exactly what love was. And what that man held for his dear friend, he knew, was indeed love.

* * *

**A/N:**So completely sorry that I made you wait this long. Things happen, I don't get to write as often as I want, and then a long waiting period happens... -_-

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and thanks to all who reviewed while waiting patiently.c: I'll try to update quicker this time, but hell this took way longer than it should've so I can't promise anything other than I **will** be updating.

Thanks again!c:


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